Rainbow Paper Plate Craft

Make a weaving template for your child to practice their fine motor skills to create this rainbow paper plate craft.

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This rainbow paper plate craft looks simple, but it’s the perfect activity for your child to practice a variety of early childhood skills.

First, weaving with yarn uses fine motor skills, including the pincer grasp. It’s a good precursor to learning how to lace and tie shoes.

This is also a fun way to practice colors and counting. We used 7 colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet (ROY G BIV).

You’ll also find this activity requires a bit of patience and maybe some troubleshooting as kids have to figure out exactly how to adjust the yarn so it fills the rainbow.

Yarn weaving tips

This craft is fairly simple, but you may need to change some details to make it fun and easy for your child.

• We created 7 rows, but you can make fewer. Just remember that you’ll need an odd number of rows to be able to cut out every other one.
• You can use fewer colors and just weave on the paper plate, skipping the rows that connect in the gap space.
• No paper plates in your craft stash? You can use cardboard, card stock, or another sturdy material that won’t tear easily.
• Mix up your yarn. We used a mix of cotton and acrylic, but you can use any type of yarn. Try thick or fuzzy yarn. Use ribbon or trim. You don’t need much, so this craft can be done with scraps.

How to make a rainbow paper plate

Supplies

• 10-inch white paper plate
• pencil
• scissors
• ruler
• single-hole punch
• yarn: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet
• various items to trace for arcs – try rolls of tape, container lids, cups, and dishes

Instructions

1. Cut the paper plate in half.

To make one rainbow, you’ll need half a paper plate. Estimate the middle and cut it in half with scissors.

2. Draw the template.

Measure and mark about half an inch along the cut edge of the plate. Then measure and tick 6 marks at 3/4-inch from both sides. Trace lids and other circle shapes to connect the marks to create 7 rainbow arcs.

3. Cut and punch holes.

Use scissors to cut out every other arc, leaving the outermost and innermost arcs intact. Use a single-hole punch to make holes along the paper plate arcs.

4. Cut yarn for weaving.

Cut a length of yarn from each of the 7 rainbow colors. We found 36 inches was good for the long arcs and 24 inches for the short arcs. If you want to have yarn tails to tie off or hang at each end, you’ll need to cut your yarn longer.

5. Weave each rainbow color.

The last step is the yarn weaving. Weave each piece of yarn in rainbow order, starting with red on the outside. You can use any combination of stitches or even make up your own patterns.

Below we used a whip-stitch for the red yarn. We used a zig-zag stitch for the orange yarn to fill the space between paper arcs.

We used a straight stitch for the yellow yarn. Then we went back to the zig-zag stitch, but skipped every other hole where it meets the yellow yarn.

We used another whip-stitch for the blue and a zig-zag (skipping holes) for the indigo. Then we finished with a backstitch for the violet.

We wanted to use a mix to illustrate the different ways you can weave yarn for this rainbow paper plate craft. Practice different stitches or just weave and see what you come up with!

Printable instructions

Rainbow Paper Plate

Print

Prep Time 20 minutes

Active Time 10 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Materials

• 10-inch white paper plate
• pencil
• scissors
• ruler
• single-hole punch
• yarn: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet
• various items to trace for arcs - try rolls of tape, container lids, cups, and dishes

Instructions

1. Cut the paper plate in half.
   To make one rainbow, you'll need half a paper plate. Estimate the middle and cut it in half with scissors.
2. Draw the template.
   Measure and mark about half an inch along the cut edge of the plate. Then measure and tick 6 marks at 3/4-inch from both sides. Trace lids and other circle shapes to connect the marks to create 7 rainbow arcs.
3. Cut and punch holes.
   Use scissors to cut out every other arc, leaving the outermost and innermost arcs intact. Use a single-hole punch to make holes along the paper plate arcs.
4. Cut yarn for weaving.
   Cut a length of yarn from each of the 7 rainbow colors. We found 36 inches was good for the long arcs and 24 inches for the short arcs. If you want to have yarn tails to tie off or hang at each end, you'll need to cut your yarn longer.
5. Weave each rainbow color.
   The last step is the yarn weaving. Weave each piece of yarn in rainbow order, starting with red on the outside. You can use any combination of stitches or even make up your own patterns.

More fun ideas from Backyard Summer Camp:

• 24 Easy Rainbow Crafts for Kids
• Bean Mosaic Art Kids Craft Ideas
• 30 Kids Yarn Crafts to Make This Summer