A Kid’s Guide to Exploring the Rainbow in Spanish
Is your little explorer ready for a lesson about the rainbow in Spanish? After all, what kid isn’t amazed after watching one for the first time? This guide will help you find ways to teach children the scientific facts around this optical and meteorological phenomenon.
Children often wonder:
- How are rainbows formed?
- Why is the order of the colors always the same?
- Why is it shaped as an arch?
- Why do we see these mixes of colors outside and inside the house?
- Why do they appear when it is raining?
- Can I make one?
You can find the answer to these subjects while exploring the rainbow in Spanish, they can blow anyone’s mind.
Kids can benefit from this educational experience that has already caught their eyes. Read ahead to find simple explanations and translations to the Spanish language. Also, activities to practice their vocabulary and songs about the colors of the rainbow to improve pronunciation.
¡Hagamos esto!
Let’s do this!
What Is a Rainbow in Spanish?
An arcoíris (rainbow) is an arco (arch) formed by siete colores diferentes (seven different colors). The colors of the rainbow in Spanish are:
- Red – Rojo
- Orange – Naranja
- Yellow – Amarillo
- Green – Verde
- Blue – Azul
- Indigo – Índigo o añil
- Purple or violet – Morado o violeta
The Spanish word for rainbow is arcoíris, combining two separate words: arco (arch) and iris (Iris, the Greek goddess of peace).
You can write the Spanish word for rainbow either together or separate. If written together, you must add an accent mark on top of the first “i”:
- el arco iris
- el arcoíris
Learn more about Accents and Stress in Spanish.
Download FREE Rainbow in Spanish Activities for Kids!
Type your name and email below to get four activities for kids about the rainbow in Spanish! You will receive: -Where can you find rainbows? Worksheet -Fill in the blanks diagram -Rainbow coloring page -Matching activityFormation of a Rainbow in Spanish
Before diving deep into the vocabulary words of the formation of a rainbow in Spanish, let’s go over the scientific information we need children to process.
White Light Refraction
When white light goes through transparent objects like glass prisms it gets fragmented into different colors. This process is called refraction.
So white light magically transforms into 7 lights of different colors? No. White light—like the sun’s—is the result of the combination of those 7 colors and they get separated or decomposed with refraction.
In the case of rainbows in the sky, these transparent objects are raindrops. And the light source is the sunlight. The more raindrops and light there are the better we can see rainbows.
Here is the vocabulary of the formation of a rainbow in Spanish:
| English | Español |
| Rainbow | El arcoíris |
| White light | La luz blanca |
| Transparent objects | Los objetos transparentes |
| Raindrops | Las gotas de lluvia |
| Glass prisms | Los prismas de vidrio |
| Fragmented | Fragmentado |
| Different colors | Los colores diferentes |
| Refraction | La refracción |
Rainbows in the sky look like an arch because the raindrops are moving downwards constantly until they hit the ground creating an angle instead of a straight line. That’s why it is called rain-bow and that’s why the rainbow in Spanish is arco-iris.
In the next two segments, you will find kid-friendly Spanish vocabulary. You can use it while explaining the process of rainbows in Spanish!
Why Can We See the Colors in a Structured Way?
Why is it that the colors of the rainbow don’t get mezclados (mixed up) or combinados (combined)?
When light viaja (travels) through transparent objects like glass prisms or gotas de agua (water drops) it bends at different angles, so it refracts.
La luz, el sonido y el agua (light, sound and water) travel in waves and different light colors have different longitudes de onda (wavelengths). These are settled by midiendo (measuring) the top of the waves. That means that waves bend at different ángulos (angles) in the same transparent objects. You can see the seven different colors of the rainbow because of this.
Order of the Colors of the Rainbow
Why does the order of the colors of the rainbow never seem to cambiar (change)? As we know now, you can see perfectly delimitados (delimited) colors while looking at a rainbow. This is due to the diferencia (difference) of their wavelengths. But those wavelengths have a certain orden (order):
The luz roja (red light) has the más larga (longest one), so it goes first at the rainbow curva (curve). While the morada (purple) one has the más corta (shortest) wavelength, making it last. The others are put in place enmedio (in between).
Where Can You See Rainbows?
You can see rainbows forming in el cielo—”sky” in Spanish—when it’s raining. But remember that the key objects to form one is water an light, so you can also see them appearing in:
- Fountains – Las fuentes
- Waterfalls – Cascadas
- Fog – La niebla
- High-speed running rivers – Los ríos que corren a alta velocidad
These last ones throw little water drops in the air due to the speed at which it is running. Making it easier for the sunlight to come through them.
But wait! You can also make one! See the fun activities I have designed for you and your children or students to reinforce their vocabulary as well as their Spanish pronunciation.
Rainbow Activities in Spanish
Check out the activities below!
- Water glass prism
- Circle the drawing and fill in the blanks
- Song pronunciation
- Fill in the blanks diagram
- Rainbow coloring
- Match the words
1. Water glass prism
Let your kids make their own rainbows with a glass of water and a flashlight! Fill the glass up to three quarters with water and place it on top of white paper. Let a flashlight —or better yet, sunlight—shine through it. Try different angles until you see a rainbow. Let your little one tell you about the parts of the process in Spanish while living the experience of making a rainbow!
2. Where can you find rainbows?
Download our free bundle of Rainbow Activities in Spanish. You will find all the materials you need for this activity. Print out the PDF and then tell kids to circle the correct drawing and fill in the blanks.
3. Song about the colors of the rainbow
The purpose of this activity is that little kids learn words about the rainbow in Spanish. Also, listening to a foreign language song repeatedly is a good way to get familiarized with its phonetics. This complements the learner’s experience and gives more tools and structure in order to learn Spanish efficiently.
- Red – Rojo
- Orange – Naranja
- Yellow – Amarillo
- Green – Verde
- Blue – Azul
- Indigo – Índigo o añil
- Purple or violet – Morado o violeta
4. Fill in the blanks diagram
After pre-teaching the elements of the rainbow in Spanish, you can reinforce this lesson by testing your kid’s retention. You can find the materials for this activity in the downloadable content. The images illustrate how rainbows are formed so that your learner gets a visual image of the process that you already taught. Since some kids are more responsive to pictures, this activity will help them to learn quicker.
At a first glance, it seems easy to fill in the blanks of this diagram, but maybe you will have to guide your little one a couple of times before they do it by themselves. You can take this opportunity to explain the process again but with images now!
5. Rainbow coloring
Coloring is something kids always enjoy. You can use this to their benefit, by teaching them language skills while they are at it! This activity will help them relate Spanish words with colors. Let them do it by themselves until they get it right, they will surely have fun in the meanwhile!
6. Match the words
Improve your students’ Spanish awareness by giving them the matching activity found in the downloadable content! More than a game, this is a mental stimulator. It can help children develop thinking skills like:
- Increasing concentration
- Improving short-term memory
- Increasing attention to detail
- Gaining visual memory
- Categorizing words and objects in groups
- Broadening vocabulary
- Having the ability of finding differences and similarities
- Identifying patterns
- Improves problem-solving skills
How does it sound? Additionally, some of the words I picked for the matching game are similar in both Spanish and English, which will help them discard some of the options that don’t look alike.
- Rainbow – El arcoíris
- White light – La luz blanca
- Transparent objects – Los objetos transparentes
- Raindrops – Las gotas de lluvia
- Glass prisms – Los prismas de vidrio
- Fragmented – Fragmentado
- Different colors – Los colores diferentes
- Refraction – La refracción
Empower Your Child’s Spanish Fluency!
Practicing Spanish with these activities about exploring the rainbow in Spanish is fun and educational. But if you really want to enable your child to become a successful, multilingual individual, it’s time to take the next step!
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