St. Patrick's Day Rainbow Bookmark Craft

These simple rainbow bookmarks are the perfect craft for St. Patrick's Day or Bible School. Elementary aged children will enjoy the easy activity and use it past the holiday.

Cut a cloud shape from white construction paper. Place the cloud shape between layers of thin plastic laminating pages. Trim around the cloud shape leaving a trim of laminating plastic to avoid peeling.

Next, use a hole punch to make six holes as close as possible in a row along the bottom of the cloud. Take a short piece of ribbon in each of the following colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. Each strip of ribbon should be about six inches long and thinner than ½ inch wide.

Tie the end the thin red ribbon to the hole on the left of the cloud. Continue with orange and then the remaining rainbow order until each hole has a strip of ribbon tied to it. If the ribbons are slippery, secure each knot with a drop of hot glue.

Now you should have a stiff cloud with a rainbow falling beneath it. Place the cloud shape near the top of the page in the book and let the ribbons hang down in the book.

Before laminating the cloud shape, you can write on it for a personalized cloud book mark. Use a colored marker to write your name, the name of your student, or phrases. For example, if using this as a St. Patrick's Day craft activity, write "Happy St. Patrick's Day!" or "Kiss Me I'm Irish" on the cloud. If you are using this as a craft activity for Bible school or during the study of Noah and the Ark you could write "God Keeps His Promises" or the reference for Bible verses for when God placed the rainbow in the sky as His promise following the flood.

This simple craft activity also works for elementary science classes as they study rainbows. Write "ROY G. BIV" on the cloud to help students remember the order of the colors as they appear in the prism or rainbow. Or let students choose one fact about rainbows to write on their bookmark to help them remember.

After writing on the cloud shape, the laminating plastic will keep the writing protected against water and wear.

Instead of writing on the rainbow bookmark, consider placing a thin layer of glue on the glue and shaking silver or blue glitter onto it. After drying, laminate it to keep the glitter from getting all over the book pages.