Who doesn’t love rainbows? They’re so magical, and yet they are a great way to talk about science! For our storytimes the week of St. Patrick’s Day, we chose to do a rainbow theme. It’s related (find a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow!) but only tangentially, so it incudes everyone whether they celebrate the holiday or not. My coworker decided to focus on the colors of the rainbow, and although we did some color activities, I also talked about the weather aspect of rainbows. Springtime seems to be a prime time for the conditions to be right to make a rainbow. I think you could also borrow some of these activities for a Pride themed storytime in June. So there are lots of ways to use a rainbow theme!
Early Development Tip: Weather and seasons are things your children experience and can relate to. Try using their experiences to talk about the science behind weather, like rainbows. Sometimes we ourselves don’t know all the facts, but we can find out right along with our children by using books at the library. Simple scientific knowledge about everyday events gives children a strong foundation for later school learning. –from The Early Literacy Kit: A Handbook and Tip Cards by Betsy Diamant-Cohen & Saroj Ghoting
Welcome Song: Hello, Friends*
Warm Up Song: Wake Up, Feet*
This is a repeated song that everyone seems to enjoy. I always begin and end with feet and tummies, but find two other body parts to wiggle in the middle. I rotate between elbows, cheeks, hips, noses, arms, chins, thighs, heads, shoulders, ears, knees, and fingers.
Lifting Rhyme: Toast in the Toaster*
Intro: It’s almost springtime, and we will be seeing a lot of different kinds of weather. It can be cloudy and cold one day and sunny and warm the next day! It may rain, and it could even snow! What’s the weather like today? Let’s do a song about different kinds of weather.
Let’s see if you can tell me the weather based on these symbols.
I chose just four of these to do – snow, wind, rain, and sun. You can download my printable flannel template here!
Ukulele/Flannel Song: What’s the Weather?
(tune of: Clementine)
What’s the weather, what’s the weather,
What’s the weather, everyone?
Is it windy, is it cloudy,
Is there rain, or is there sun?
Source: Jbrary
Download a ukulele songsheet for What’s the Weather here!
When there is sunshine right after rain, it makes a… rainbow! Wow, how beautiful! What colors do we see?
I made a very simple rainbow flannel with half-circles of the colors – I didn’t count on the fact that stacking that much felt makes for a very thick rainbow! It did stay up on the board, though, so it works. I also talked a bit about how scientists differentiate between the lighter blue and the darker blue called indigo, but in our song we’ll just say the color blue to cover both. I changed the words a bit as the original said “only seen on rainy days” which felt not quite precise enough for me. (I admit I can be an unnecessarily nitpicky person!)
Flannel Song: Rainbow Colors
(tune of Twinkle Twinkle)
First comes red and orange, too
Shiny yellow, green and blue
Purple ends the arc up high
When rain and sun meet in the sky
First comes red and orange too
Yellow, green, blue, and purple, too!
Source: adapted from Metropolitan (OK) Library System
Transition: If You’re Ready for a Story*
Another interactive book with Ploof! In this sequel, Ploof is trying to make a rainbow. I love that it touches on uncomfortable feelings without making them “bad” and that it celebrates trying.
Read: Paint with Ploof by Ben Clanton & Andy Chou Musser
A sweet book with flowers the color of the rainbow.
Backup Read: The Hidden Rainbow by Christie Matheson
What do we need to make a rainbow again?
Fingerplay: Big Round Sun
Big round sun in the springtime sky
Waved to a cloud that was passing by
The little cloud laughed as it started to rain
Then out came the big round sun again
[And what else came out?] A rainbow!
Source: King County (WA) Library System
Let’s do one more weather rhyme.
I added the rainbow verse to tie everything together!
Fingerplay: Rain Is Falling Down
Rain is falling down, SPLASH
Rain is falling down, SPLASH
Pitter patter, pitter patter
Rain is falling down, SPLASH
Sun is peeking out, PEEK
Sun is peeking out, PEEK
Peeking here, peeking there
Sun is peeking out, PEEK
Rainbow in the sky, WOW!
(arc hand across, then make “exclamatory wow” hands (open to interpretation))
Rainbow in the sky, WOW!
So many colors do I see
Rainbow in the sky, WOW!
Source: adapted from Jbrary
It’s time to get our scarves out! And what’s this? My ribbons! You can choose one scarf and one ribbon. I would suggest choosing two different colors! Can we make a rainbow with all these colorful scarves and ribbons?
I don’t use our ribbons often, so this was a great opportunity to hand them out – I figure why not add more color!? They really enjoyed throwing their scarves up in the air on this one.
Scarf Rhyme: Make a Rainbow
Let’s wave our scarves high!
Let’s wave our scarves low!
Let’s wave our scarves fast!
Let’s wave our scarves slow!
Now let’s crumple up our scarves
One, two, three… RAINBOW!
Source: Librionyian
Wave your scarves over your head!
I think I originally saw this as a parachute song (though I didn’t note that source), with a parachute that only has red, yellow, green, and blue. To make it a rainbow, I changed the lyrics to also include orange and purple. I don’t love doing the same tune more than once in a storytime, but this one and Rainbow Colors were far enough apart that it didn’t seem too odd.
Scarf Song: These Are the Colors
(tune of Twinkle, Twinkle)
Red and yellow, Green and blue
Orange and purple over you
Red as an apple, Green as a tree
Yellow as the sun, And blue as the sea
Red and yellow, Green and blue
Orange and purple over you
Source: adapted from Storybook Stephanie
Look, it’s raining again!
Another opportunity to let our scarves drop. Is a scarf drop the storytime equivalent of a mic drop? I think so! We did rain and sun, naturally.
Scarf Rhyme: Rain on the Green Grass
Rain on the green grass, (shake low)
Rain on the trees (shake high)
Rain on the roof (hold above head)
But not on me! (drop)
Source: Jbrary
Let’s dance our rainbow scarves. Can you listen for your colors?
Okay, so most of my kiddos are too little to both know what colors they have and wait to do a motion during their color. But it’s fun anyway. Note that the rhyme sheet is two pages long, though the preview below shows just the first page. Click the thumbnail to download the full PDF.
Scarf Rhyme: Rainbow Dancers
Rainbow dancers: Let’s get ready
Hold your scarves nice and steady
Hear the colors of the rainbow Listen for your time to go
Shake red… Shake orange… Shake yellow… Shake green… Shake blue… Shake purple!
Red scarves: turn around
Orange scarves: up and down
Yellow scarves: reach up high
Green scarves: fly, fly, fly
Blue scarves: tickle your nose
Purple: touch your toes
Everybody dance around,
Swirl your scarves Up and down
Now: Shake purple… Shake blue… Shake green… Shake yellow… Shake orange… Shake red!
Rainbow dancers dance around
Scarves swirl up and Scarves swirl down
Our colorful dance is at an end
Thank you, thank you, All my friends!
Source: Jbrary
Action Song: Zoom, Zoom, Zoom!*
Craft: Paint a Rainbow
My colleague had planned this craft, inspired by ABCDeeLearning, and she used color-coordinated pompoms held by wooden clothespins dipped in paint to make the rainbow. I decided to go an easier route and just got out our dot markers. At one time we had four of each rainbow color (which is one for each table I set up for crafts), but over time we’ve either lost a couple markers or they’ve gone dry. I replaced those with the pompoms and paint, but only needed to replace three missing markers, so it was not a lot of mess and trouble for me. Add some cotton balls and liquid glue and it’s an easy peasy craft!
And here’s my setup on each table.
Play Time
The toddlers have two laundry baskets of baby toys – rattles and cars, sorters and stackers, toy phones and spinners. For the older kids, I have foam blocks, soft food toys, puzzles, and a few other items that are a little more sophisticated than the baby toys. For Family Time, I gauge the overall age of the group and put out what seems right for them. We play for 5-10 minutes at the most, then I ring the bell and ask the kids to help me clean up. I think the clean up bit is good practice for them!
Goodbye Song: See You Later Alligator*
Other books I had available for families to browse (and may work for you on this theme)
Rainbow Bear – Bill Martin, Michael Sampson, Nathalie Beauvois
Planting A Rainbow – Lois Ehlert
A Rainbow of Rocks – Kate DePalma
Black Is a Rainbow Color – Angela Joy & Ekua Holmes
The Rainbow Snail – Karin Åkesson
Colors All Around – Wiley Blevins & Elliot Kreloff
Elmer and the Rainbow – David McKee
How Do You Eat Color? – Mabi David & Yas Doctor
Bear Sees Colors – Karma Wilson & Jane Chapman
Rainbow Hat – Hong Hai
Rainbow – Marion Dane Bauer & John Wallace
Raindrops to Rainbow – John Micklos Jr. & Charlene Chua
Wow, Said the Owl – Tim Hopgood
This storytime was presented in-person on 3/18/26.
Storytime Handout:
*Lyrics to these songs can be found on the Repeated Songs & Rhymes page.
† Click the image of rhyme/song sheets to download a non-branded PDF
Storytime with Ms. Emily Library 