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Peabody TeachFor teachers and grown-ups

Rainbow theme for 3 and 4 year olds: a week of activities

A rainbow theme lesson plan for 3 and 4 year olds: what a day looks like, then the week's circle time (ten to fifteen minutes, with a child holding the book), books, craft, song, snack, letter and outside time, each with what changes at this age.

Plan this week for 3 and 4 year oldsThe whole rainbow week

A day of the rainbow theme with 3 and 4 year olds

  1. Arrival, sign-in, and a job from the helper chart.
  2. Circle (ten to fifteen minutes): calendar, “Where does rain come from?”, sing “doctor foster”, then Rain on the Hat.
  3. Centers, with the craft at one table: paper-plate rainbow.
  4. Letter R: trace it once, then hunt for R around the room.
  5. Snack: Fruit Kabobs, with children pouring and counting.
  6. Outside: puddle jump.
  7. Rest, then a longer read-aloud: Kate and the Puddle.

Rainbow circle time

  1. Good morning song, then say each name together.
  2. Calendar: the day, the date and the weather.
  3. Ask: “Where does rain come from?”
  4. Sing: Doctor Foster.
  5. Read: Rain on the Hat (level 3).

Threes and fours: ten to fifteen minutes; let a child hold the book.

Rainbow theme books

  • Rain on the Hat (level 3, free on peabody.kids): Rain on a hat, in a pattern.
  • Pit, Pat (level 0, free on peabody.kids): The sound of rain for little ones to tap.
  • Kate and the Puddle (read aloud, level 4): A read-aloud: a puddle, some mud and a pig.
  • Ruby and the Rainy Picnic (read aloud, level 6): A read-aloud: a picnic that gets rained on.

Rainbow craft: Paper-plate rainbow

You need (4): half a paper plate, crayons in rainbow colors, cotton balls, glue stick.

  1. Color stripes across the plate: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple.
  2. Glue cotton-ball clouds on both ends.
  3. Say the colors in order.

With a grown-up. No heat, nothing hot.

Rainbow song: Doctor Foster

The words

Doctor Foster went to Gloucester In a shower of rain; He stepped in a puddle, Right up to his middle, And never went there again.

Traditional; public domain. From Top 52 nursery rhymes with lyrics.

Rainbow snack

Fruit Kabobs from the Peabody Kitchen: picture steps, allergy swaps and safety lines on the recipe.

Letter R activities

RrR is for rain. Print the two pages (a trace page and a color page).

Threes and fours: trace R and r once, then find R in the room and in the book.

Outside activity: Puddle jump

Chalk puddles (or use real ones in boots). Jump in, jump over, walk around.

Rainbow theme for toddlersRainbow theme for 2 year oldsRainbow theme, all ages

Checked 2026-10-30