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Rainbow crafts are always a hit, but there’s something about Spring that makes them even more exciting and fresh. The kids and I recently did this Rainbow Mobile craft…
A Colorful Mobile Craft for Perfect for Spring!
Rainbow Mobile Craft Supplies
You probably have everything you need for this cute craft right around the house. You’ll simply need:
- a heavy-duty paper plate
- cotton balls
- a single hole punch
- scissors
- string (or yarn or pipe cleaners)
- and dyed penne pasta
Now, you can purchase pre-dyed pasta made especially for kids craft project or sensory play. Or, you can dye pasta yourself. It’s really easy! For dyed pasta, all you will need is:
How to Dye Pasta for Your Rainbow Mobile
If you’re dying your own pasta, you’ll want to do it the night before so it’s fully dry in time for your kids’ crafting. But, you could make a large amount and store it after it’s dry to use with another rainbow craft activity or other fun crafts.
All you have to do is add about 1/2 cup of dry pasta, a teaspoon of rubbing alcohol, and a few drops of food coloring to a zip-top plastic food storage bag. Then, seal the bag and shake until the color is distributed evenly throughout the pasta. Finally, spread the dyed pasta out onto a baking sheet or tray and allow to dry overnight (or however long it takes to dry completely).
That’s it! Just repeat for all of the colors of the rainbow. And you can even reuse the same plastic freezer bag by rinsing it out in between colors.
Rainbow Mobile Craft Instructions
After you have dyed the penne pasta, you can get started on the cute rainbow craft.
First, cut a paper plate in half. Then, punch one hole in the center of its rounded edge and six holes, evenly spaced, along its straight edge. You can punch the holes with a common single hole punch. Or, have little ones punch them using a press-style hole punch for some great fine motor skills work.
Next, have your preschooler glue cotton balls all over one side of the paper plate half to make a cloud. Just make sure they leave the punched holes uncovered.
Then, while the glue is drying, have your child start threading dyed pasta onto string. Any kind of string works, but I highly recommend using pipe cleaners if you’re doing this rainbow craft with toddlers or children with less hand-eye coordination.
While we stuck to one color per string (or pipe cleaner), you could also let your child get creative with how they would like to thread their pasta. The final rainbow mobile crafts will look adorable either way. And their pride in their creativity and independent work is more important than doing the craft perfectly anyway.
Tie the strings of rainbow pasta onto the holes along the straight edge of the plate half, in rainbow order, if desired. Then, add an extra loop of string to the top hole for hanging!
A Fun Rainbow Mobile Craft for Kids
We did this craft over a few days, when we were stuck inside on a rainy day and when a couple of the kids were up from nap time early. Since there are a few components to the craft, it’s perfect for this approach. But, it can be done over one long stretch if you have kids with longer attention spans, too.
Do your children love all things rainbow, too? Where could you see these gorgeous rainbow mobile craft hanging in your home? Share with us in the comments below!
Full Rainbow Mobile Craft Instructions:
Rainbow Mobile Craft for Kids
Materials
For Dyed Pasta:
- 3-6 cups penne pasta (uncooked)
- 6 teaspoons rubbing alcohol
- food coloring
For Rainbow Mobile Craft:
- 1 heavy-duty paper plate
- washable school glue
- cotton balls
- dyed penne pasta (prepared, or purchased)
- string (or yarn or pipe cleaners)
Steps
To Prepare Dyed Pasta:
- Add 1/2 cup 3-6 cups penne pasta, 1 teaspoon6 teaspoons rubbing alcohol, and a few drops of food coloring to a zip-top gallon food storage freezer bag.
- Seal bag and shake until pasta is thoroughly coated.
- Spread dyed pasta out onto a sheet pan and allow to dry overnight or until completely dry.
- Repeat for each color of the rainbow. (To re-use the same bag, just rinse it out in between colors.
To Make Rainbow Mobile Craft:
- Cut 1 heavy-duty paper plate in half.
- Use a single hole punch to punch 1 hole in the center of the rounded edge of one plate half, then punch 6 evenly-spaced holes along the straight edge.
- Use washable school glue to glue cotton balls onto one side of the paper plate half, leaving holes uncovered.
- While glue is drying, thread dyed penne pasta onto string Consider threading one string of each color of the rainbow. Or, allow children to be creative and choose colors.
- Tie strings of rainbow pasta onto the holes along the straight edge of the plate half.
- Tie a loop of string onto the hole in the curved edge of the plate half for hanging.
Rainbow Mobile Craft Supplies on Amazon:
Get everything you need to make your own rainbow mobile craft right here…
Roylco Colored Assorted Noodles, 1 Lb. BoxZiploc Freezer BagsBarilla Penne Rigate PastaAnn Clark Professional-Grade Food Coloring GelSolimo 70% Ethyl Rubbing Alcohol First Aid AntisepticFiskars SoftGrip Titanium Scissors100% Compostable 9 Inch Heavy-Duty Paper PlatesMROCO Single Hole PunchElmer’s Washable No Run School GlueCliganic Super Jumbo Cotton Balls1312 Feet Jute Twine
And check out all of our favorite arts and craft supplies in B-Inspired Mama’s Amazon Shop: Awesome Kids Art and Craft Supplies
Like this Rainbow Mobile Craft? Save It & Share It!
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More Rainbow Crafts for Kids from Sugar, Spice, & Glitter:
More Kids Crafts from B-Inspired Mama
- 14 Colorful Rainbow Crafts for Kids
- Fun Finds for Kids Rainbow Play and Learning
- 21 Suncatcher Craft Ideas for Kids to Bring Sunshine to a Rainy Day
Debbie says
I’m looking forward to doing this with my seniors! Great idea.
Gabrielle says
About how many rainbows does this make?
Krissy of B-Inspired Mama says
Great question! If you dye that much dried pasta, it will probably make around 4-5 rainbow crafts.
Sharleen says
How did you tie off the string so that the pasta didn’t fall off the bottom?
Krissy @ B-Inspired Mama says
Hi, Sharleen. This was a contributor’s post. But it looks like she put the string through the hole in the pasta and then tied the string to itself. Does that make sense?
Ana says
Very cute, but do we really have to use food for art? Wouldn’t it be better to buy the pasta and give it to a local food pantry and use some other craft material? It is very sad to realize that food is over abundant and cheap for us that we would waste it on a craft.
Krissy @ B-Inspired Mama says
I appreciate you sharing your opinion. I have heard this viewpoint on using food for art and play before. If it’s something that makes you or others uncomfortable, you could definitely limit it to expired food or use colorful beads from the store instead. However, consider also that purchasing beads and other craft supplies from a store opens up the issue of consumerism, too. It seems like we can’t win!