Who doesn’t love a little rain now and then? Rain showers make the world look fresh and clean, and they create puddles for us to jump in. Sometimes, a rainy day can be extra special when we get to see a rainbow. But did you know you don’t need rain or even to be outside to see a rainbow? You can make your very own rainbow right in your house!
To make a rainbow at home, you’ll need:
Are you ready to make a rainbow? Follow these simple steps:
Do you see a rainbow? If not, gently pick up the glass and lift it straight up away from the paper until you see a rainbow appear on the paper. If it doesn’t work the first time, try putting the glass down slowly again or carefully tipping the glass just a little in the beam of sunlight.
Once you see a rainbow on the paper, look at it carefully. How many colors do you see? It might be hard to tell, but a rainbow is made of the colors red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet.
So, where did this rainbow come from? The fact is, all of these colors are always in sunlight. We just can’t see them because they’re all mixed together. But when sunlight moves from the air into the water in the glass, it bends in a special way. When it bends, the light separates into all of the colors of the rainbow. We call this bending “refraction.”
We see rainbows outside whenever there’s a lot of sunlight and a lot of water in the air, like during or right after a rainstorm, in the mist at the bottom of a waterfall, or even around the spray from a sprinkler or a hose. The water in the air acts just like the water in your glass. The light refracts as it moves from the air into each tiny water droplet. So, the big rainbow that you see outside comes from all of the light being refracted through lots and lots of separate drops of water all at once.
Now that you know how to make your very own rainbow, do you want to do a little rainbow hunting the next time it rains? If you do, you’ll just need to make sure of three things:
Good luck with your rainbow hunting and rainbow making! Thanks for joining us on SciShow Kids. Do you have a question about something you see in the world around you? Get help from a grown-up and let us know in the comments below or send us an email at [email protected]. We’ll see you next time!
Color Hunt: Go on a color hunt around your house or garden. Look for objects that match the colors of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. Can you find something for each color? Once you have your collection, arrange them in the order of a rainbow and take a picture to share with your friends or family.
Water and Light Experiment: Try making rainbows using different containers and light sources. Use a glass, a bowl, or even a bottle. Experiment with a flashlight if it’s not sunny. How does the shape of the container or the type of light affect the rainbow? Draw or write about your observations in a journal.
Rainbow Storytime: Imagine you are a tiny raindrop that helps create a rainbow. Write or draw a short story about your journey from the sky to the ground and how you help make a rainbow. Share your story with your class or family and discuss how raindrops work together to create the beautiful rainbows we see.
