Pipe Cleaner Rainbow Craft

This Pipe Cleaner Rainbow Craft is a fun and colorful pipe cleaner craft for kids! Add a colorful rainbow, soft cotton balls, and a smiley face sun for a cheerful craft just for the kids.

Pipe Cleaner Craft for Kids

This rainbow pipe cleaner craft is so fun for kids of all ages but young children will especially enjoy this creative activity filled with a host of learning and developing fine motor skills.  My daughter recently learned the color order of the rainbow and has since been doodling little rainbows all over and wanting to make as many rainbow things as she can. This cheerful craft was made together one afternoon using some basic craft supplies and just a little bit of time. We like to keep our crafts pretty simple around here and the less mess the better 🙂

• Paper Plates– we used regular size plates but dessert plates would work as well- just scale down your pieces to fit. 
• Blue Paint – we chose to go with a soft sky type blue but any blue will work
• Pipe Cleaners– one pipe cleaner for each color of the rainbow – Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, and Purple.
• Yellow Cardstock or Construction paper
• Black Sharpie
• Googly Eyes– we love using self-adhesive googly eyes, but they aren’t always easy to be found so regular glue on yourself googly eyes works just as well. 

HOW TO MAKE PIPE CLEANER RAINBOW CRAFT

1. Paint your paper plate in your desired shade of blue.  Allow to fully dry. 
2. Align your pipe cleaners in rainbow order and bend in shape to make a rainbow.  Carefully place on plate and glue in place.  I found that hot glue works best, but should ONLY be used by adults.  Kids liquid glue will work but will take much longer to dry. 
3. Glue cotton balls to the ends of the rainbow to act as clouds. 
4. Cut out a yellow circle from your yellow paper. Glue on googly eyes and draw on a smile. 
5. Add to paper plate and make sun marks if desired. 

WATCH JUST HOW EASY THIS CRAFT IS AND SEE MY DAUGHTERS VERSION IN OUR VIDEO!

Homeschool and Classroom Use:

This makes for a great activity for preschoolers and lower elementary students.

• Teach your children the colors in the rainbow and see how well they remember when they form their own rainbow!
• Bending the color pipe cleaner is a great fine motor skill activity.  You can even string on some matching color pony beads for a color matching fun activity.

Tips and Frequently Asked Questions:

What if I don’t have cotton balls?
Feel free to swap cotton balls with white pom poms or white crumbled tissue paper if desired. 

Where to buy pipe cleaners for crafts?
You can find this fun craft supply in many stores. We have found them in Dollar Tree, Dollar General, Walmart and of course all your brand craft stores. Amazon also has them.