Rainbows and Beans

I am finally posting this themed study.  We did most of the learning and activities last fall or early winter.

We read about the true, scientific explanation of why there are rainbows in a few books from our home library, and then we read online about the various beliefs of past cultures regarding rainbows and what they meant.  We read about beans and sprouted some and dissected them, and the kids identified the various parts of the sprouted bean.  We also read about various cultures' bean lore.  I'll post some links at the end of this post.

Sprouted pinto beans

Olivia wanted to draw pictures, of course.  It doesn't matter what we do, it seems she always wants to draw some pictures.  :-)

Not only did I make this delicious fruit rainbow, but I also made some homemade black bean dip, which was delicious, too.


I dyed garbanzo beans (chickpeas) with watercolor paint in all the shades of a rainbow for sensory fun.  Even William (and I) loved playing with them. I still have them, stored in a reused large yogurt container for sensory activities for Elizabeth.

It is pretty delightful to grab handfuls over and over.  :-)

We also used our prisms (I have two) outside in the sun to make rainbows on the ground, and I did take a picture, but I don't know where it is.  

Here is the picture Olivia drew with crayons and glued a few of the beans on the paper for a rainbow.

I'm editing to add a picture of a rainbow I took this March.

Links:

Rainbows in Mythology

Iris, the Greek Goddess of the Rainbow

Bean Folklore

Parts of a Bean Project

Until next time...