This project will take a little bit of preplanning. Create a rainbow shape on a sturdy piece of paper and make enough copies for each child in the class. Use poster board or heavy card stock for this project for durability. When children arrive for the day, employ their help to separate a box of Fruit Loops cereal into different colors. Place bowls on a table for each different color of cereal. This is good matching and color recognition practice for preschoolers. When that is finished, give children the rainbow paper and ask them to glue the colors onto the rainbow, only one color per section. The order of the colors does not matter, as you can allow children a bit of artistic license when creating their rainbows.
Dump out one box of Fruit Loops cereal onto a table or into a clear glass bowl. Ask children to guess which color they think makes up most of the box of cereal just by studying the contents on the table. To test the theory, separate the cereal by colors and count the number of loops of each color. Or, create a bar graph by gluing the colors onto a poster board in lines of 10 pieces of cereal each. Count by tens to determine which color dominated that box of cereal.
Fruit Loops can make an excellent manipulative for simple addition work. Ask children to separate the box of cereal into colors using small bowls. Create simple addition problems for children to solve, such as 4+2. Show children that they can find the answer by adding four red loops to two yellow loops and counting all the loops together.
For this project, you will need index cards, colored markers and yarn. Before children arrive for the day, create pattern index cards using colored markers. For example, draw two red circles, followed by three blue circles and repeat the pattern on an index card. Pour the cereal into a large bowl and place it on the table with the index cards. When children arrive, give them each a piece of yarn and direct them to the table with the cards and cereal. Children can choose a card from the stack and create the pattern on their card by stringing the loops onto the yarn. When the children finish creating the pattern and have filled up their yarn, they can use it as a necklace with a portable snack.