Rainbows Even When There’s No Sun

Ironic that this week our theme was Rainbows since they are so bright and cheerful and our life this week was anything but in some ways…good thing for the fun that this theme afforded us! It was also nice that even for me, there was that little visual reminder of God’s promises.

In my life this week…

This week was hard. Miss Optimism ended up in the hospital for a few days and we are now doing hospital care at home, which is a 24 hour a day exhausting thing. Worse than our hospital stay, the kids witnessed something that caused some trauma to resurface for some of them and that has been really difficult.

We invented a game of table hockey using markers and a medication lid!

Miss O. and Dancing Queen as the movie is about the start…we are so blessed to have such a wonderful Children’s Hospital here where there are so many extras to help the kids stay positive during their stays.

In our homeschool this week…

We were doing the letter “Rr” and chose the theme of Rainbows.  It’s a great theme, fun for the kids and easy to do.

Our Rainbow Sensory Bin:

I used foam packing peanuts, sensory balls, sponges, plastic ice cubes (the nice thing about these is that you can also have the option of freezing them first to add another sensory element), beads, pom poms, clips, a blue moon, feathers, a cup, a bath sponge, a squish ball, a bow, and a few toys.

Some activity sheets:

I printed the color by number sheet and the “Rr is for Rainbow” sheet from Confessions of a Homeschooler. The other sheet I found here and I printed two sets for each of the kids. They used one sheet with Fruit Loops. Some of them chose to eat the cereal after while others chose to glue them on. The other sheet they completed with bingo dabbers.  The kids also did a lot of rainbow colouring sheets.

Books we used:

        
We have long loved I Love You More Than Rainbows and I used Noah’s Ark to incorporate how rainbows are a reminder that God keeps his promises.  The kids also watched the movie The Story of Noah.

Science:

Here is the link to the idea we used on how to make your own rainbow.

Party:

But of course, the highlight of Rainbow week was having a Rainbow Party! We used the theme to celebrate the end of the homeschool year (even though we are going to be schooling year-round this year). There were 29 kids here with their moms…loud and messy, but so much fun!!!

My girls helped me make these treat bags to hand out to the party guests. I got the idea here.  So simple, but super cute!

The kids made paper chains and strung them all over the house to use as our decorations.

The food was a very colourful array. I tried to think of as many edible rainbow things as I could.

Making the layered jello cups took a lot longer than I anticipated, so I’m glad I got a picture, because it’s unlikely that I’ll ever make them again! If I did though, I would make them in smaller plastic cups or make them in a sheet pan and cut them into squares.

For crafts, I let imagination be the key. I put out paint, paintbrushes, clay, foam hands, coloured beads, scissors, glue, paper, bright feathers, markers, colouring sheets, paper, and markers. I also put out a bowl of Fruit Loops and string licorice and the kids made necklaces and bracelets with them, but I didn’t get any pictures of that.

The decorate-your-own-cupcake area was popular, as evidenced from the expression on Dancing Queen’s face. Miss Optimism made vanilla cupcakes and added sprinkles before she cooked them so they had a bit of a rainbow on them. We set out four colours of icing, more sprinkles, and lots of candy for the kids to add.

I am linking up to The Homeschool Mother’s Journal, Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers, Ben and Me, Read Explore Learn, and Sun Scholars.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.  If you click through and make a purchase, I will receive a small portion which in no way affects your price, but is very much appreciated!

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