This Rainbow Cutting and Pasting Activity is a super simple craft that’s perfect for building up fine motor skills in preschoolers or toddlers.
The rainbow theme is always a popular one, and it can link into topics of weather as well as learning about colors.
Rainbows are perfect for Spring time, especially around St. Patrick’s day, but they are trending with kids of all ages all year round!
This rainbow themed activity is a whole lot of fun, with minimal mess and supplies needed. You can have the whole thing set up within a couple of minutes.
Table of Contents
- Fine Motor Rainbow Craft Supplies
- Scissor Skills
- Directions for the Paper Cutting Rainbow Craft
- Fun Ways To Vary This Craft
- What Do Kids Learn With This Craft?
- Download Free Printable Rainbow Template
- More Rainbow Crafts and Activities
- More Fine Motor Activities for Preschoolers
- Share
Fine Motor Rainbow Craft Supplies
This activity only needs a few basic supplies, that you likely already have around the house.
Affiliate links below from Amazon for convenience. You can pick up these items in any craft store or even in a larger supermarket / grocery store.
- Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple construction paper- You can buy a pack of rainbow construction paper with all the colors.
- Kid scissors
- Glue stick
- White card stock
- Black Permanent marker
If you don’t have construction paper, you could use rainbow colored tissue paper.
If you don’t have that on hand either, then extend the activity by having the kids find each of the rainbow colors in old magazines and cut them out ready to use on their rainbow craft.
This is a fun variation to mix things up if you have extra time.
Scissor Skills
Using scissors can be tricky for little ones, and building confidence with this important skill is a great way to work on hand strength and coordination.
Kids can usually try working with scissors around three years old, although it takes time and practice to really perfect the skill.
If you don’t have scissors, or if you’re working with a younger toddler who is not yet confident using the scissors then another variation is to simply rip the paper.
This builds hand strength and works toddler hand muscles, as well as giving them a suitable outlet to practice ripping if that’s something they are drawn to at the moment.
The paper ripping variation is lots of fun for toddlers as young as one and two years old.
Directions for the Paper Cutting Rainbow Craft
Follow the instructions below for the step by step for this easy and fun colorful craft for kids.
This rainbow activity is great for toddlers and preschoolers to develop cutting skills and strengthening their fine motor muscles in their hands. You can also use it to teach about the colors on the rainbow.
Paper Cutting Fine Motor Rainbow Craft For Preschoolers
This simple and cute rainbow craft is a great way to practice scissor skills, build up fine motor skills and hand strength and learn the colors of the rainbow.
Materials
- White Paper
- Construction paper in each of the rainbow colors
- Black marker
Tools
- Glue stick
- Child friendly scissors
Instructions
- Draw out a rainbow with clouds on the white card stock.
- Have your child cut up small squares of each of the colored paper.
- Organise all of the ripped or cut paper into piles by color
4. Kids can use the glue stick to glue on each of the colored squares onto the rainbow 
5. Continue until the whole rainbow is filled in 
Notes
If you would like to download a rainbow template you can use this free printable rainbow template from our rainbow suncatcher post.
Fun Ways To Vary This Craft
Like we mentioned, younger kids can rip the paper as well to develop fine motor skills instead of cutting.
You can also use cotton balls to glue on the clouds at the bottom of the rainbow for a sensory aspect to this activity as well and to make a nice 3d textured effect.
What Do Kids Learn With This Craft?
This activity works on the following preschool skills
- Scissor skills (hand strength, coordination)
- Learning the names of each color (language skills)
- Color sorting (visual discrimination, cognitive skills)
Download Free Printable Rainbow Template
You can also use a printed rainbow template if you didn’t want to draw one yourself.
Maybe you want to prepare this activity for a larger group of children, in which case using a template can cut down on time and make life easier.
If you would like to use a template for the base of the rainbow shape instead of drawing your own, you can use the free printable rainbow template we have available in our Rainbow Suncatcher craft post. (Note: This template does not include the clouds, just a rainbow shape)
More Rainbow Crafts and Activities
- Rainbow Poem for Kids (Free Printable Worksheet)
- Color Mixing Activity for Kids (with Printables)
- Popsicle Stick Rainbow Craft
- 3D Rainbow Craft For St. Patrick’s Day
- DIY Rainbow Clay Stackers
- The Ultimate List of Rainbow Sensory Play
- Pot of Gold Rainbow Shaker for Sensory Play
More Fine Motor Activities for Preschoolers
- Rainbow Fine Motor Busy Bag
- Rainbow Heart Perler Bead Patterns (Free Printable)
- Fine Motor Sun Craft to work on Number Matching
- I Can Make Numbers Playdough Mats (Free Printable)
Share
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Anna Marikar, mum of four and seasoned blogger, has spent over a decade sharing her parenting journey and passion for kid-friendly crafts and free printables.
Her easy-to-follow craft ideas and practical parenting advice have transformed In The Playroom into a cherished resource for parents.
Great job on creating an easy and fun rainbow-themed cutting activity that helps develop fine motor skills in preschoolers and toddlers. It’s perfect for both indoor and outdoor playtime, and I love that the materials needed are easy to find at home. Thanks for sharing!