How to Make a Rainbow Jar Kids Craft

Follow these easy directions to make a Rainbow Jar with your kids or with anyone who loves rainbows (teens, and adults included). Your mason jar will look bright and cheery and are simple to make with cotton balls and paint. This craft is perfect for spring, including in a science weather unit, learning about absorption, or having some St. Patrick’s Day fun!

Who knew a mason jar could look so pretty? Seriously, this craft is super eye catching when it is done (I took tons of pictures you can see below because of all the pretty colors). It’s hard to believe it is made out of such simple supplies and that it is so fun and easy for kids to make.

My kiddos had tons of fun assembling their Rainbow Jars. They were busy counting, measuring, mixing, and pouring (talk about some good life skills practice).

My kids are 9 and 7 and needed no assistance to make their own Rainbow Jars. Check out their smiles and all the colors! Younger kids should be able to assemble their jars with a little more guided direction. You may also want to add a funnel to your list of supplies to aid in pouring if the neck of your jar is small or your little one needs more assistance pouring.

With three layers in, we already were wowed with the results!

Check out our action shot putting in our final layer. I think at the end of this rainbow we struck gold, at least as far as crafts go, this one is certainly a winner! hehe.

Look how pretty the colors look up close!

We used a large quart sized mason jar to hold all the colors. Feel free to use which ever jar you have on hand. You will just need to adjust the measurements. To do this, fill your jar with cotton balls to see how many can go inside. Empty the jar out and put them in a pile. Add an extra handful to your pile because when the cotton balls are in the jar they shrink. Next, divide the cotton balls into even piles of six so you have 1 pile for each color you are using (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple). Now you are ready to proceed with the directions, just remember to use your prepared piles.

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SUPPLIES:

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• Large Quart mason jar-affiliate link (You can use any jar you will just have to change the measurements to match your jar. See adjustment directions towards the beginning of this post)
• Acrylic Paint-affiliate link (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple)
• Large craft stick-affiliate link or utensil
• Glitter-affiliate link (Clear, iridescent, and/or silver)
• Approx. 120+ Cotton balls-affiliate link
• Washi tape-affiliate link (optional)
• Water
• 6 cups for mixing in (Shallow cups will be easier to mix in)
• 1/2 c. measuring cup
• 1 tsp. measuring spoon

 

How to Make an Easy Rainbow Jar Kids Craft

DIRECTIONS:

(Printable directions available toward the end of this post)

Hi. Craft along with us and watch our tutorial or continue below to the directions and photos.

Fill each cup with 1/2 c. water. There should be 6 total cups.

For each color, add 1 tsp of acrylic paint to each cup and stir in the color. (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple)

Divide your cotton balls into 6 piles of 20ish cotton balls.

Start with the first pile, pull each cotton ball apart a little bit and place in the jar. We used 15-25 cotton balls per layer. You want the cotton balls to absorb the liquid to show each color in the jar.

Use the popsicle stick to gently push the cotton balls down.

Sprinkle glitter on top of the cotton balls.

Slowly pour the first color of paint on top of the cotton balls. We found that it turned out best when we aimed for the middle. We started with the color purple (but forgot to take a picture of it, so here is us pouring the color blue).

Use the popsicle stick to gently move the cotton balls around until they absorb all the paint. You want the cotton balls to absorb all the paint to keep the color in place without having leftover paint that can leak into the other colors. You can add more cotton balls as needed, but make sure not to add too many that parts of the cotton balls are left white. If that happens just mix up a little more paint and water mixture and pour it in.

Repeat the layers in this order: (purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, red)

• 15-25 separated cotton balls gently pressed down with a popsicle stick
• Glitter
• One color of paint slowly poured into the middle
• Cotton balls gently moved around to absorb the extra paint

Secure the lid on the mason jar.

Optional: Add washi tape around the rim of the lid. Now you can enjoy a rainbow without a cloudy day :).

Notes:

• Don’t press down so hard with the popsicle stick that the paint squeezes out of the cotton balls because the colors will mix and look muddy.
• If there is space left at the top you can add a layer of white cotton balls for clouds or add in another layer of paint and water mixture.
• Keep the jar fairly still after assembled to keep the colors separate.
• Eventually the colors will mix. Just like a real rainbow, they don’t last forever but are certainly enjoyed while they do.
• If your child wants to leave parts of their cotton balls white, it’s totally okay.

Print the Directions Here:

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