Cardboard Cutout Rainbow DIY

I really enjoy creating little DIY Montessori cardboard cutout activities for my girls. 

This particular one is themed for St Patrick’s Day. 

But it can be used on any day of the year as well as it is a rainbow and who doesn’t love rainbow all year round, right? 😀

Also, it is made with the help of Free St Patrick’s Day printable!! 

Read below to see how we made ours 🙂 

Recycled Play for Kids

Recycled toys are great! 

In fact, you can make so many different activities, crafts, play ideas using a cardboard box. 

The next time you get an Amazon order, save that box (if its not dirty, of course.)

Create something epic with it! 

We made this rainbow puzzle and it was a total hit! 

But, you can make literally so many different ideas using a cardboard cutout. 

Here are some cardboard cutout play toys and play and learning ideas for kids that we have tried in the past:

• Simple Color and Shape Cardboard Activity

• Alphabet Match Cardboard Box

• Play Based Alphabet Activity 

• Easy DIY Nesting Toy

• Heart Cards DIY Learning Activity

• Recycled Box Activity for Kids

• Snowman Sensory Play DIY

and so much more! 

Note: If you’d like to see a really cool DIY Recycled Pumpkin we made with water beads around October, check it out here!

Materials: 

This post contains affiliate links. 

• 2 Cardboard cutout pieces equally sized

• Download the Free St Patricks Day Printable (I used a sheet from this printable to stencil out the rainbow.)

• Craft Knife 

• Acrylic Paint

• Pom Poms

• Glue Gun 

And that is really all there is to it! 

DIY Rainbow Cardboard Cutout Puzzle Craft for Kids Video below

How to put together a cardboard activity for kids

This particular montessori cardboard activity was so much fun to make! 

But the best part about it was that it was really easy too. 

Here are the steps I took to create this recycled play rainbow cardboard cutout:

• Cut 2 cardboard pieces into equal sizes. 

• Use one of our free printable rainbow sheets from this freebie right here to use the rainbow as a stencil onto the cardboard piece. 

• Then, use a craft knife to follow along the lines of the rainbow you just stenciled onto the cardboard piece. 

• Remove each of the arches. 

• Use acrylic paint to paint each of the rainbow arch cardboard pieces you just cut out.

• Set them aside and leave them to dry.

• Now, you will add both the cardboard pieces together by hot gluing them together. You can use tape if you’d like to keep it extra secure. 

• Once your arch cardboard cutouts are complete, your puzzle is ready for play! 

• Add the arches into the puzzle correctly and learn all about colors, shapes and sizes.. 

• Tip: I hot glued pom poms to each arch for easy removal of the arches. 🙂

Enjoy! 

Recycled Play for Toddlers

This activity can be tailored for toddlers, preschool, kindergarten.. you name it!

The great thing about open ended activities is they can work for a differentiated set of ages. 

Toddlers can just use this as a fun puzzle. 

Preschoolers can use this as a fun puzzle as well as learning about colors and different sizes. 

For kindergarteners, you can create more arches and add them or subtract them. You can also learn a bit about color mixing and which colors make what colors. 

What other fun ways can you think of using these? 

Enjoy! 🙂