If you are teaching preschool children about the spectrum, have them use paper plates to make their own rainbow. Distribute a paper plate to each child. Help them use a pair of scissors to cut the center out of the plate. Cut long strips of crepe paper in each color of the rainbow--red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. Have children use a stapler to attach the streamers to the paper plate in the order they appear in the spectrum. Once complete, children will have a rainbow that they can dance around and play with.
If you are teaching children about Halloween during the month of October, have them make jack-o'-lanterns out of paper plates to decorate for the holiday. Provide children with a paper plate, orange paint and paint brushes. Instruct them to paint the back of their plates orange. While the paint dries, use white chalk to draw three triangles and a jack-o'-lantern mouth on black construction paper. Have children use scissors to cut out these shapes. Once the paper plates have dried, children can glue the construction paper shapes to them to make a face. Make a stem for the pumpkins by wadding up pieces of green tissue paper and gluing them on top of the plates.
Have children help you create a colorful garden of flowers with this craft project. Use paints in a variety of colors, brown pom poms, straws, paper plates and scissors. Show children how to use the scissors to cut slits around the perimeter of the paper plate--these will serve as the petals of their flowers. Once the slits have been cut, let children paint their plates in whatever color they would like. Also have them paint their straws green. When the plates have dried, instruct them to glue the brown pom poms in the center of the plate. Attach the green straws to the bottom of the paper plate with a stapler, creating a stem. Cut two leaves from green construction paper for each child and have them staple one to either side of the straw.