How To Make A Rainbow With A Prism

Rainbows are gorgeous and sometimes you can see one in the sky! But do you know you can also make a rainbow for easy science activities at home or school! Explore light and refraction when you make a rainbow using a variety of simple supplies, including a flashlight and a prism. Enjoy fun STEM activities all year round!

HOW TO MAKE A RAINBOW

Rainbow Activities for Kids

Explore how to make a rainbow with a prism, a flashlight, a reflective surface, and more. Learn about the refraction of light with these hands-on, easy rainbow activities for kids. Check out more fun rainbow theme science experiments!

Kids can make rainbows with simple supplies. It’s tons of fun and can lead to so many types of exploration. I was very impressed when my son already knew about bending light. Kids absorb so much more than we realize from everyday conversations.

Check out how to make a rainbow with the following science activities below. We used a prism, a CD, a flashlight, and a cup of water to bend light and make simple rainbows quickly and easily. It is a great way to demonstrate how visible white light comprises 7 different colors.

This color wheel spinner is another fun activity demonstrating how white light is made up of many colors.

How to Make a Rainbow

What happens when visible white light bends? You can make a rainbow! When the light bends through a specific medium such as water, a prism or crystal the light bends {or in science terms refracts} and the spectrum of colors that make up white light becomes visible.

Think about the rainbow you see in the sky after it has rained. The rainbow is caused by sunlight slowing down as it enters a water droplet, and bending as it moves from the air to the denser water. We see it as a beautiful multi-colored arc above us.

The 7 colors of visible white light are; Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Check out our printable rainbow coloring page and how you can mix the colors of the rainbow with paint!

Free Printable Rainbow Activities Guide and STEM Cards

Download this free mini Rainbow pack to get started today!

Fun Ways to Make Rainbows

Find more fun and exciting rainbow science activities here.

YOU WILL NEED:

CDs
Flashlight
Colored Pencils
Prism or Crystal
Water and Cup
White Paper

1. CD AND FLASHLIGHT

Make awesome rainbows using a small flashlight and a CD. Shine the light from your flashlight onto the surface of the CD to make a bold beautiful rainbow each time.

Also use a CD to make this simple spectroscope to see the colors of the rainbow.

2. RAINBOW PRISM

Use a crystal or a prism and natural sunlight to make rainbows everywhere. We made tiny rainbows all over the ceilings and walls as the light bent through all the different faces of the crystal.

A prism creates rainbows like a raindrop does. The sunlight slows down and bends as it goes through the glass, which separates the light into the colors of the rainbow or the visible spectrum.

The prisms that make the best rainbows, are long, clear, triangular crystals. But you can use whatever crystal prism you have on hand!

3. RAINBOW STEAM (SCIENCE + ART)

Combine rainbows and art with this simple STEAM idea. Different angles, different hues! Place your CD on top of a blank piece of paper and color around it with the matching shade. What colors of the rainbow can you see?

4. CRYSTAL AND CD RAINBOW

Combine the crystal prism and the CD to make colorful rainbows. Also, use the crystal to check out the colored pencil rainbow drawings!

$Make rainbows combining crystal prism and CD to refract light$ Pin

5. FLASHLIGHT, CUP OF WATER AND PAPER

Here is another easy way to make a rainbow. Place a clear cup filled with water on top of a box or container. Have a white sheet of paper handy {or a few}. Place the paper out on the floor and tape to the wall.

Use the flashlight to make neat rainbows by shining it into the water at different angles. You could also do this by shining your flashlight onto the prism above too!

Tough to capture with our camera, but you can get an idea. Which angle works best? Light bends through the water.

6. EXPLORE LIGHT SCIENCE

Give your kid a flashlight and the play and discovery opportunities are endless. You can also make shadow puppets while you make easy rainbows! Who knew! He had an awesome time bending light.

CHECK OUT: Shadow Puppets

There is really no wrong way to experiments with these rainbow science ideas. Step back and let your child enjoy making rainbows with light. Make sure to keep your eyes open for a rainbow after a rain shower too. Great way to put the two ideas together!

More Fun Light Activities

Make a color wheel spinner and demonstrate how you can make white light from different colors.

Explore light with an easy DIY spectroscope.

Explore reflection of light with a simple DIY kaleidoscope.

Learn about refraction of light in water.

Set up a simple mirror activity for preschool science.

Learn more about the color wheel with our printable color wheel worksheets.

Explore the constellations in your own night sky with this fun constellation activity.

Make a DIY planetarium from simple supplies.

Science Resources to Get You Started

Here are a few resources that will help you introduce science more effectively to your kiddos or students and feel confident yourself when presenting materials. You’ll find helpful free printables throughout.

Printable Science Projects For Kids

If you’re looking to grab all of our printable science projects in one convenient place plus exclusive worksheets and bonuses like a STEAM Project pack, our Science Project Pack is what you need! Over 300+ Pages!

90+ classic science activities with journal pages, supply lists, set up and process, and science information. NEW! Activity-specific observation pages!
Best science practices posters and our original science method process folders for extra alternatives!
Be a Collector activities pack introduces kids to the world of making collections through the eyes of a scientist. What will they collect first?
Know the Words Science vocabulary pack includes flashcards, crosswords, and word searches that illuminate keywords in the experiments!
My science journal writing prompts explore what it means to be a scientist!!
Bonus STEAM Project Pack: Art meets science with doable projects!
Bonus Quick Grab Packs for Biology, Earth Science, Chemistry, and Physics