Crafts from the Rainbow Brite Treasury
compiled by Hilda Young
A Rainbow Whizzer
One day, Rainbow Brite found the Color Kids having great fun with a Rainbow
Whizzer. You can make one for yourself.
You will need:
Pencil
Mug or coffee-jar lid
A small piece of stiff white card
Scissors
Ruler
Paints, felt-tipped pens or crayons
A small sharpened pencil stub
1. Draw around the top of a mug or top of a coffee-jar lid to make a circle
on the card.
2. Cut out the circle.
3. Using a ruler, draw seven lines from the center of the circle to the
outside edge
making seven equal sections.
4. Paint or crayon in the segments round the circle in this order -- red,
orange, yellow,
green, blue, darker blue, violet.
5. Ask a grown-up to help you make a hole in the center of the card with the
scissors,
just big enough to push the pencil stub through.
6. Now your whizzer is ready to spin. Choose a flat surface but do not spin
it straight on
the table, as it may leave a mark.
When you spin the whizzer, watch what happens to the colors.
A Shell Paperweight
When Patty went to the sea for the day she found lots of pretty shells which
she brought
home with her.
“Why don’t you make a paperweight?” suggested Rainbow Brite. “It's
quite easy
to make, and then your shells will both be pretty and useful!”
If you have some shells, you too can make a paperweight.
You will need:
Large flat pebble
Shells of different shapes and sizes
Bucket of water
Pencil
Paper
Non-toxic glue
Varnish (to be used by an adult)
1. Wash and dry the pebble and shells thoroughly.
2. Draw the shape of the pebble on a piece of paper.
3. Arrange your shells on this in a pattern. You can rearrange them easily
before you
transfer the final design onto the top of the pebble.
4. Cover the top and sides of the pebble with glue and stick on the shells
in the design
you have chosen. Allow to dry thoroughly.
5. Ask an adult to use the varnish (following the instructions closely) to
give your pebble
paperweight a lovely shine!
A Murky Dismal Mask
Make this mask and scare your friends!
You will need:
1 large plain white paper plate
Pencil
Scissors
Paints, felt-tipped pens or crayons
Egg box
Non-toxic glue
Strands of dark wool
Narrow wooden stick
Colored crepe paper
Sticky tape
1. Hold the plate to your face and ask a grown-up to mark where your eyes
are.
2. Take the plate away and cut small holes where the marks are. Check that
you can see
through the holds.
3. Draw in Murky’s eyes, eyebrows and mouth following the picture, then
color in his
whole face and helmet.
4. Cut one piece from an egg box for Murky’s nose. Stick it onto the mask
with glue.
Leave it to dry so that it is stuck firmly.
5. Use strands of dark wool to make his mustache. Stick them on carefully
and allow to
dry.
6. Cover a narrow stick with crepe paper, sticking it down carefully with
sticky tape.
7. Fix the stick to the back of the mask with glue or sticky tape so that
you can hold the
mask in front of your face.
Make a rainbow
One day, Buddy Blue decided to play a trick on Red Butler. He sprayed him
with a long
hose which Patty had been using to keep her lawn fresh and green.
“Hey, stop that, I'm getting wet!” cried Red crossly.
“You're getting a rainbow too!” cried Rainbow Brite, pointing to the
rainbow
colors.
“Yes, it's because you have your back to the Sun and are facing the water
hose,”
explained Violet. She always knew why things happened! “When the sunlight
shines
through a drop of water it is split up into seven main colors. They make up
the rainbow!”
“Do you realize,” she went on, “that the rainbow colors are always in
the same
order. They never vary!”
“You can make a rainbow in another way too,” said Violet, and she told
the Kids
what to do.
Does the experiment work? Why not try it and see! This is what you do:
Put a little mirror into a small bowl of water and then put it so that the
sunlight shines on
the mirror. Hold a sheet of white paper where the light is reflected onto
it, and all the
colors of the rainbow will appear on the paper.
Grow vegetable tops
“Can you spare a carrot to eat? I'm hungry!” cried Buddy Blue to Patty
O'Green one
morning, as she was tending the vegetable bed.
“Yes,” said Patty. “but give the top to Shy Violet. She needs it for an
experiment. I've already given her a parsnip top and a beetroot top.”
Buddy gave the carrot top to Violet and watched as she filled three
saucers full of
water and put a different top in each one. “I wonder how long it will be
before they
grow,” she said.
Why don't you try this experiment too? You will be surprised how quickly the
vegetable
tops grow. Remember to keep the saucers full of water.
Make your own Star Sprinkles
Although they will not have the same magic properties as those made in the
Color Mines,
you can make your own Star Sprinkles, using salt or sugar and poster paints!
You will need:
hot water
old clean jar
metal spoon
poster paints
teaspoon
of salt or sugar
basin of hot water
thread
safety pin
pencil
This is what you do:
1. Ask a grown-up to pour some hot water into an old, clean jar. A spoon in
the jar will
stop it cracking. Put a few drops of paint (whichever color you like), into
the water.
2. Put several teaspoons of salt or sugar (use one or the other) into the
water. Stir
vigorously until the salt or sugar dissolves.
3. Stand the jar in a basin of hot water and spoon in more salt or sugar.
Keep adding the
salt or sugar until no more will dissolve (about 8 teaspoons).
4. Tie some thread around a safety pin and then wrap the thread tightly
around a thin
piece of wood (a pencil will do). Balance this carefully across the top of
the jar so that
the thread hands down into the jar. Wind more of the thread round the wood
if necessary
until the safety pin is hanging free in the water.
5. Put the jar in a safe place for a few days.
6. Your own Star Sprinkles will soon begin to form around the safety pin.
What color will they be?
Rainbow eggs for Easter
At Easter, Rainbow Brite likes to color lots of egg and then hide them around
Rainbow
Land for her friends to find. If you'd like to make some special Easter eggs
for your
family, here are a few suggestions.
You will need:
Eggs
Food coloring
Beetroot
Crocus petals
Onion skins
Pieces of wool, paper and card
Wax crayons
Felt-tipped pens
1. You can make the eggs almost any color by adding a few drops of food
coloring to the
water e.g. red, blue, green, yellow etc. A little beetroot in the water
turns both the water
and egg a pretty pink. A few crocus petals will turn an egg yellow or
purple, depending
on the color of petals you use.
If you write a name on the eggs with a wax crayon, and put a few onion
skins in
the water, the egg will come out marbled with the name written clearly on it.
2. Ask a grown-up to boil the eggs for 10 minutes. Start them off in cold
water so that
they do now crack.
3. Put the eggs in cold water and leave them until quite cold. Dry them
carefully on a
clean tea towel.
You can also decorate eggs after they have been boiled. You can make them
into the
Color Kids for instance. Use wool for hair and add a distinguishing feature
-- a paper
sweatband for Buddy Blue, spectacles for Shy Violet, Lala’s beret made out of
cardboard
etc. Use felt-topped pens to draw features.
A sprite mobile
Why not make a sprite mobile for your room?
You will need:
Pencil
Tracing paper
Sheet of thin white card
Paints, felt-tipped pens or crayons
Scissors
Cotton thread
Metal coat-hanger
Bright strips of tissue paper or ribbon
Non-toxic glue
1. Trace this sprite shape seven times on to the card.
2. Draw a face on each one, following the picture, and color the sprites in
different
colors.
3. Carefully cut out each sprite. Make a small hole at the top, just large
enough to pass a
piece of cotton through.
4. Cut seven different lengths of cotton and pass one through the hole at
the top of each
sprite.
5. Cover the coat-hanger with ribbon or strips of tissue paper, wrapping
round and round
until the coat-hanger is completely covered. Stick any ends down neatly.
6. Tie the sprites on to the coat-hanger in different places. Your mobile
is now ready for
hanging! |
