Camp Little Victors 2020: Rainbow Fun

The C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital’s virtual summer camp offers families loads of kid-friendly activities to follow.

5:00 AM

Authors | Layla Jawad | Jacqueline Cole

CLV week 1 rainbows

To spark imagination and inspire safe fun indoors, the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital's Camp Little Victor's summer series provides families with step-by-step, kid-friendly activities to enjoy. Check out more Camp Little Victors activities.

To kick off the first week of Camp Little Victors, brighten up your home with these rainbow-themed activities. With just some time and color, you and your little ones will create vibrant magic! Follow along to paint rainbows with bubbles, craft a rainbow density jar, eat yummy rainbow pizza and even play on a rainbow obstacle course.

Arts & Crafts

Paint Rainbows with Bubbles

Create colorful artwork in a simple and magical way! This activity combines two favorites: paint and bubbles. Kids can create masterpieces without having to even touch a paintbrush. Take this activity outdoors and don't forget your art aprons.

What you'll need:

  • Large sheets of painting paper

  • Bubble mixture

  • Bubble wands

  • Food coloring

  • Cups and/or trays to dip your wands into

Instructions:

  1. Put aside one tray or cup for each color you want to use.

  2. Grab your bubble mixture and tip a small amount into each tray or cup.

  3. Add several drops of food coloring to each tray and stir gently; be careful to not make the mixture too bubbly. Do one cup for red, one cup for blue, one cup for yellow and one cup for green.   

  4. Now for the best part: blow bubbles all over your paper! The colors should come out beautifully on the paper.

Inspired by Childhood 101's Bubble Painting with Bubble Blowers.

Science & Math

Learn About Density with Rainbow Jars

With a few household ingredients, anyone can be a scientist. Learn about density by layering dish soap, honey, corn syrup, olive oil and rubbing alcohol to create a beautiful rainbow jar.

What you'll need:

  • A tall, see-through container (such as a 28 oz mason jar)

  • Honey

  • Light corn syrup

  • Dish soap (either blue or green)

  • Olive oil

  • Water

  • Rubbing alcohol

  • A dropper

  • Food coloring

Instructions:

With the exception of the sixth and final layer of rubbing alcohol, make sure to pour all of your liquids into the middle of your container being careful to not let it touch the sides. You will have six layers stacked on top of one another in order of highest density (honey) to lowest density (rubbing alcohol) to create your rainbow.

  1. Pour honey into center of jar until around ¾-inch tall.

  2. In a separate cup, mix around 1 ½ cups of corn syrup with red and blue food coloring together to create purple. Pour into the center of the mason jar.

  3. Add in your dish soap (we used blue!), about ¾-inch to one inch tall.

  4. Mix around 1 cup to 1 ½ cups of water with a different food color than one of your previous layers (green is used here) and add it to the mixture.

  5. Pour in a thick layer of olive oil.

  6. In a separate cup, mix around ½ to ¾ cup of rubbing alcohol with red food color, then use your dropper to drop it along the side of the container. Be careful to not break through the oil layer to prevent mixing with the food coloring from the water layer.

  7. Now your rainbow is complete! Have your little scientist hold the container up to the light and see density at work.

Inspired by Playdough to Plato's Rainbow Jar

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Food & Recipes

Create Yummy Fruit Rainbow Pizzas

These colorful pizzas are both fun for kids to create and delicious to eat! Rainbow fruit pizzas are sure to make your tummies happy. Not only are they quick to make, but they look beautiful and taste delicious, too. Parents are able to feel good about their child eating nutritious fruits, and kids will love decorating and eating their rainbows!

Ingredients:

  • 1 sheet seamless crescent roll dough

  • 8 oz vanilla Greek yogurt

  • 6 large fresh strawberries

  • 4 oz cup of mandarin oranges or fresh mandarin oranges

  • 2 kiwis

  • ⅓ cup fresh blueberries

  • ⅓ cup fresh purple grapes

           

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

  2. Lightly grease a baking sheet and gently roll out the crescent dough to make a rectangle, pressing lightly on the dough as needed. To form a rainbow, trim away the edges of the dough and slightly flatten the corners so that they don't pop up during baking. 

  3. Bake the rainbow for 8-12 minutes, until golden brown and crispy. Then remove, and let sit to cool to room temperature.

  4. While the dough is in the oven, prepare your fruit pizza toppings. Cut the tops off of the strawberries and slice into thin pieces. Rinse and pat dry the mandarin oranges. Peel and slice the kiwis into circles, then cut the circles into half-moons. Wash and pat dry the blueberries and grapes and set the fruit aside. 

  5. Leaving a ½ inch border around the sides of the cooled dough, spread the yogurt over the top. 

  6. Arrange your fruit in order of a rainbow on top of the yogurt. Start with the strawberries along the outermost edge of yogurt, with the flat part of the strawberry facing the crust. Under that layer, place an arch of mandarin orange slices, then kiwis, next blueberries and finally grapes as the inside layer of your rainbow. Slice and eat immediately, or refrigerate for a few hours and save for later.         

Inspired by Well Plated by Erin's Rainbow Fruit Pizza

Fitness & Motor Skills

Colorful Chalk Obstacle Course

An easy way to improve your kids' memories, sleeping habits and brains while simultaneously getting them moving and having fun! A sidewalk obstacle course is the easiest way to add a new outdoor activity to your day. Obstacle courses are a great way to get your kid moving and use their creativity to help you plan the course. 

What you need:

  • Different colored chalk

  • A sidewalk or driveway

Directions:

  • Make a starting point and work your way around the sidewalk or driveway with different colored obstacles. Include different tasks like hopping, dancing, walking backwards, jumping on one foot, spinning, etc. 

  • Placing objects such as rocks around the course and create rules around them, such as "jump over the rock" or "walking two circles around it".

  • Add "break" activities to make obstacle courses more fun. These can include: making a wish, saying your name, yelling something you're thankful for, etc.

  • Use different colors for different activities and have your child help draw and choose the activities.

Inspired by Playtivities' Sidewalk Obstacle Course With Chalk

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