Building Amazing Things With Grimms Rainbow
So you finally have a rainbow. You love it. It looks amazing on your coffee table/shelves/mantel. But you are not that sure what to do with it. I mean how do you play with a wooden rainbow?
Luckily we’ve got some ideas to get your creative juices flowing.
The Grimms rainbow has become more than a little iconic in certain circles, probably in no small part due to its beauty and the power of Instagram. But it really is a fantastic open-ended toy that can foster creativity and imaginative play.
First things first – Build a rainbow
Depending on the age of your child just putting the pieces in order and building the rainbow can be a challenge. Plus this is a great way to learn about colours and the order they appear in the rainbow.
Although be warned none of the rainbows has 7pieces.
Build a ball or marble run
Whether you keep it simple and just use the rainbow or combine with other building blocks and stacking toys, creating a ball run or marble run is a great, and challenging activity.
As well as being fun there is so much learning that happens with this type of building. Children learn to problem solve, they see the effects of gravity, they practise their fine motor skills and they build cognitive pathways that will be used for a lifetime.
Build a tower
Stack at the pieces of the rainbow one on top of each other and see how high you can get. You could even try stacking them on their sides.
Build a farmyard or a zoo
This is a favourite with many children and a great example of the open-ended play potential of Grimms. You can make different sized enclosures from all the different sized pieces of the rainbow.
We also make caves or barns for the animals to shelter in and bridges between the different enclosures.
Build a dolls house
As well as making great animal enclosures the rainbow provides great building blocks to make a dolls house. Handy if you don’t have the budget or space for a real one.
You can use the different segments of the rainbow to make enclosures or rooms. Or if you have a set of semi-circles or just a bunch of pieces of thick cardboard, you can stack the rooms on top of each other.
Having some dolls house furniture really adds to the fun, and either the peg dolls or dolls house dolls are perfect. And of course, if you don’t have dolls house furniture you can always use building blocks or get crafty or a combination of the two.
Build amazing balancing sculptures
There are so many balancing structures you can make. Take a look online as there are literally hundreds of ideas for creative works of art and crazy balances. Here are a few suggestions.
- A rainbow tree. This is a nice easy one and a great place to start with little ones.
- A bicycle. This is a fun structure for kids and a great invitation to play you can set up in the evening for them to discover in the morning.
- A rainbow bear. Or another animal. See how creative you can be. And if stacking is tricky you can always do these lying on the ground.
- A crazy rainbow work of art. Again see how far your imagination will take you.
Build a mermaid tail
Just for the fun of taking a picture you have to build a mermaid tail with your rainbow. Place the tunnel pieces in order over your little one’s legs and use the largest piece on it’s side as the fins at the end of the tail.
Next Up: Grimms Rainbow Ideas
