Rainbow Coloring Page

This rainbow coloring page has a wide six band rainbow stretching from one fluffy cloud to another. Both clouds wear sweet little smiles, and a row of rain drops falls below them. A pot of bright flowers sits in the middle on a green hill, and the pot has a happy face and a row of hearts around its rim. Stars and hearts dot the sky, tiny hearts and stars decorate two of the bands, and a smiling sun looks on from the corner. Ages 3 to 8 can color it, and toddlers can join in with a fat crayon.

Because the bands are thick, even toddlers can follow them with a crayon. Six bands take most kids 15 to 20 minutes.

Learn your colors with this rainbow coloring page

Few drawings teach this much. Young children can match one crayon to each band and say the color name as they go. Keep the crayons in a row on the table, and let your child line them up in the right order first. It is a simple way to learn what comes next.

This page is also a favorite for rainy days, classroom weather units and notes of hope to someone who needs one.

The right order of the bands

Start at the top with red. That is the rule. Then go on to orange, yellow, green and blue, and finish on the inside with purple. Science books list seven colors, with indigo and violet at the end, but six is plenty for this page. Kids can blend blue and purple on the inside if they like.

Leave the clouds white, or give them a pale gray shadow on the bottom. Light blue suits the sky and the rain drops. Make the flowers any color you want, and use warm orange for the pot. The little hearts on the second band and the stars on the fifth band can stay white, so they shine against the color.

Easy tips for smooth bands

• Follow the curve of each band, rather than scribbling across it.
• Rotate the page as you go, as curves are easier that way.
• Use colored pencils on the thin edges and crayons in the wide middle.
• Do a band at a time, and stop for a stretch if small hands get tired.

Want a soft look? Rub each band gently with a tissue. Watercolors also look lovely, as long as you use a thick paper and let each stripe dry before you start the next one.

Why we see rainbows

A rainbow forms when sunlight hits water drops in the air, usually just after a shower has passed and the sun comes out low in the sky behind you, which is why late afternoon is such a good time to look. Every tiny drop works like a small prism, splitting the light into bands. White light is really a mix of all of them. The rainbow article on Wikipedia has diagrams that show how the light bends.

To spot one, stand with the sun behind you and look toward the rain. No two people see exactly the same rainbow, since the light that reaches your eyes depends on where you stand.

From an airplane, you can sometimes see a full circle. On the ground, the earth gets in the way, so we only see an arch. In a double rainbow, the outer arch has its colors in reverse order.

Try a rainbow at home

Make your own on a sunny day. Spray a garden hose in a fine mist with the sun at your back. You should see faint colors appear in the spray. A glass of water by a sunny window can also throw a small rainbow on the floor.

For a tasty lesson, sort a bag of colored cereal into the same order as the bands. Kids can glue the pieces onto the page, or simply eat them when done.

Older kids can write a poem. Give it one line for each color. Red could be a fire truck, and yellow could be a lemon. Six short lines are all they need.

More bright pages

Look through our cute coloring pages for other happy designs. The rainbow unicorn coloring page uses the same bold bands, and preschool fans will like the sunflower coloring page.

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