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You are here: Home / Art and Crafts / Sprinkle Rainbow Joy Around Your Living Room

Sprinkle Rainbow Joy Around Your Living Room

February 22, 2019

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Rainbow time has arrived! Our gorgeous new diy prism rainbow mobile is hanging in the window, and rainbow happy hour in our apartment is currently from about 3 to 6 pm.

How to make a marvelous prism mobile to spread rainbow joy in your home.

We used to have a  lovely glass prism object d’art that brought us a kaleidoscope of rainbow happiness every afternoon, but (gasp!) I broke it.  However, with the help of my 8 year old, we have this NEW moving sculpture with nine prisms that turns our living room into a magical rainbow universe! (I might be a little giddy right now. Rainbows will do that to you.)

I mean, check out the joy in this video … don’t you want that for your kids??

Bonus! Making this rainbow prism mobile turned out to be not only a fun design craft, but a great science lesson about how rainbows are formed, making it perfect for parents and others wanting to put together a STEAM/STEM project!  (Note: This post contains affiliate links)

How to Make a Rainbow Mobile with Prisms:

What you need:

  • small prisms (like these)
  • thin cording, thread or ribbon. We used rattail cord
  • beads
  • sturdy branch
  • invisible, or other strong thread

I ordered a selection of small prisms, both teardrop prisms and ball prisms. They were inexpensive, so I went a little overboard, but the zillion dancing rainbows improve my mood so much I have no regrets.

Make a rainbow mobile with prisms, beads and ribbon.

Kiddo found the perfect branch in the park. It is nice and long and has some great curves for visual interest.  We bought some hand-dyed beads and rattail cord (which were both more expensive than the prisms!) at a local craft store.

You want to make sure your cord is not too thick for the beads. We did have a problem with that and my son got a bit frustrated when it came to threading the beads, so I gave him strong red thread on a needle, and that was easier for him to manipulate.

Cut pieces of cord or thread to the desired length; too long is better than too short since you can always shorten them later. Loop the cord or thread through the prism and then slide on a selection of beads so they rest on top of the prism. Make as many hanging prism and bead combinations as you like.

Although your child may need help with the fine motor skills portion of this crafty activity, don’t forget to let go of control and allow your kids decide the design! After all, you want them to feel ownership over the prism rainbow mobile, and the activity will be much more meaningful for them if they feel that it is actually theirs.

After you’ve made as many strings as you want, secure them to the branch at varying intervals.  Tie loops of invisible thread at each end of the branch and hang your gorgeous rainbow prism mobile from ceiling hooks.

When the rainbow mobile creates colorful joy all over your living room take a bit of time to discuss the science of how that happens.

Here’s a great video to explain it:

When the sun shines through the prisms, we all get a little giddy and you will, too!

More STEAM projects: 

  • Make scented milk carton candles
  • How to make a thaumatrope
  • Science art projects for kids

Make a rainbow mobile out of prisms to add sparkle to your world!

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by: Erica posted in: Art and Crafts, Science 7 Comments

« (Pirate) Game of the Month: LOOT
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Comments

  1. Jen says

    April 4, 2013 at 7:28 am

    Gorgeous – my boys would love this! BTW the Stink Moody books have been a huge hit with my 7 year old, thanks so much for the recommendation.

    Reply
    • Erica MomandKiddo says

      April 4, 2013 at 10:05 am

      Oh, yay! I love Stink. He’s a bit silly, but I can’t help but laughing when I read his tales.

      Reply
  2. PragmaticMom says

    April 4, 2013 at 1:57 pm

    Pretty!!!

    Reply
  3. maryanne @ mama smiles says

    April 4, 2013 at 3:08 pm

    So cool! Just ordered a few prisms 🙂

    Reply
  4. Ruby Zhang says

    February 22, 2019 at 10:57 pm

    Awesome! My son loves this. Thank you!

    Reply
  5. Julie says

    February 24, 2019 at 2:11 pm

    Beautiful! Reminds me of the movie Pollyanna. I’ve always wanted to do this, thanks for the inspiration! Just ordered some vintage prisms from Etsy.

    Reply
    • Erica says

      February 26, 2019 at 11:13 am

      Oh, yes! Pollyanna! I hadn’t thought of that.

      Reply

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