75 Grimms Rainbow Ideas – How to Make the Most of It

grimms rainbow | the fairy glitch mother

Oh, the Grimms rainbow! You’ve probably seen it in nurseries, on Pinterest accounts, and maybe some of your friends have it. What is all fuss about, you may ask? Well, I can assure you the hype is no exaggeration. To be honest, I believe this may be the toy we’ve played with in more ways than we would have imagined initially. The possibilities are endless, and I wanted to share with you some ways we play with it. You’ll never run out of Grimms rainbow ideas to play, and here are just a few. It is the favorite of our Grimms toys.

In this post:

How did this all start for us?

grimms rainbow ideas - grimms rainbow deco | the fairy glitch mother

Grimm’s wooden toys came into our life 3 years ago, and I’m so happy they did. It all started with the large wooden rainbow and 12 colorful friends. We discovered a new way to play and learned much more than we expected. These beautiful open-ended toys give wings to everyone’s imagination and creativity (from little children to not so little people but children at heart). They are simply brilliant and are lovely.

After 3 years, we have 10 Grimms Toys at home (you can check them out here), but the Rainbow is the centerpiece of it all.

grimms toys | the fairy glitch mother

I had seen the rainbow on Pinterest for some time and thought it was fascinating. All the things that you could do with it had me amazed. So when my son was born, I put it down on the baby gift list (as he was our second child, we already had a lot of stuff that we were going to reuse from our first child). Even though he would not be using it right away, I thought he could grow up with it.

My daughter was 3 at the time and immediately loved it. She asked her brother for permission to play with it (aw, so cute!☺️), and we started exploring. I found terrific accounts online that had brilliant ideas. They had been playing with the rainbow long before we had it in our hands. They were an incredible source of inspiration (I will list them below). We found so many ideas that we loved that we started playing by replicating. After a bit, we started innovating and getting creative. And then is when the magic really happens.

So, first of all, I wanted to thank some outstanding content creators who have inspired many hours of play at home. Then, I list the ones that have influenced us more through the post. Please check them out for even more ideas!

About Grimms toys

Before I dive in, I wanted to share a bit about the company of this beautiful toy.

Grimms Spiel und Holz Design is a sustainable wood German manufacturer located at the foot of the Swabian Alb. They produce beautiful natural, high-quality, safe toys from alder, linden, beech, and maple wood. Each toy is uniquely hand-made with its unique footprint from nature.

When designing their toys, they say they are guided by the principles of Waldorf education and other reform pedagogical approaches such as Montessori.

How to use the Grimms rainbow?

grimms rainbow ideas - grimms rainbow mess with balls | the fairy glitch mother

At first, I’d just hand it to them, let them explore, and let them come up with ways to interact with it. You’ll probably be surprised – because they will possibly come up with the idea that you would not have ever thought of. I remember one of their first reactions was to use it as a phone. That is the beauty of open-ended toys.

And if they need a little nudge to get their imagination flying, show them pictures of other ways other children have come up with playing with it. For me, looking at other people’s creations has inspired me to let go and have lots of fun.

Our favourite Grimms rainbow ideas

grimms rainbow ideas - grimms rainbow boy arches min 1 | the fairy glitch mother

You’ll now see there are soooo many things you can do. Trust me. Depending on your child’s age, you will find some things are more age-appropriate than others. Here would be my suggestion seeing how my children have played with it.

If your child is little, around 1, let them explore with the pieces, the colors, grabbing them and seeing what sound they make.

Around 2, when they can start stacking or placing objects in a line, I would then go for the floor constructions – like the tunnel – or even the basic stacking tower. Color matching and sorting activities are excellent for 2-year-olds. And even if they can’t create them for themselves at this stage, they love the animals.

At 3, my children loved to make-believe with the rainbow and played with small worlds. They also ventured into more complex designs, and the ball runs.

When their fine motor skills and balancing are better, go for the more demanding and challenging creations.

What also worked for me was to show them pictures of ideas and build together the one that has grasped their attention. They were then motivated and wanted to make it themselves. After that, they would usually explore and create other things.

So let’s get started with some ideas 😉

Floor constructions & designs

A great way to start with them is with floor constructions. It is easier than stacking and a great way to get them to play with the rainbow.

Tunnels

This is probably the easiest thing to do, and it can keep them entertained for hours. We sometimes also pair it with the semicircles as my son pretends they are doors and gates.

Floor constructions

I believe this may be the easiest next step. There are so many ways to place the arches on the floor! Place them in line, curve the tunnel, criss-cross them.

Grimms rainbow flat designs

These are an excellent way to start. It is more about positioning and care than balancing (that will happen with the vertical designs.

Grimms rainbow Animals

What a creative and fun way to play with the rainbow! I would have never come up with this idea, but I came across this Instagram account @the.way.we.play in 2018, which blew us away. Recreating her animals was what started getting my daughter engaged with the rainbow. We’ve recreated some of her animals here:

And after recreating hers, we started to imagine and create animals ourselves. I have to admit that I am particularly proud of this leopard my daughter came up with this summer (5yo).

grimms rainbow - leopard | the fairy glitch mother

And here are some others we’ve had fun creating (either together or by myself 😉 )

grimms rainbow - animal who knows | the fairy glitch mother

If you have fun creating animals, you can also create them with the Grimms semicircles, which are incredible. We pair them with Grapat Mandala loose parts and it is so much fun! You can check out this post if you’d like to see other fun creative play ideas.

Grimms rainbow vertical designs

Next: vertical designs. Now, this is where it starts getting trickier… when you have to get the arches balancing perfectly, so the structure holds up. Some take more attempts than others… and doing them outside when you have to factor in the wind is not always easy 😅

Towers

We’ve managed to build some using all the pieces, but we’ve reached a certain point on others and still have not gotten all of them there. Someday we will.

Stacking vertical designs

These are the most complicated creations, challenging but also the most rewarding.

Color matching & sorting

Another fun way to use the rainbow is for color sorting activities and games.

We love to match the Grimms rainbow friends peg dolls or forest cones with the arch colors placing them on top, either straight or spiraling.

You can also match it with the tower if you have the semicircles (which are amazing!!)

And it is fun to create frames for color matching activities with other toys or objects you may have around the house, from categorizing the actual colors (red, green, blue) to broader categories like warm and cold colors. These are just some other ideas that we’ve enjoyed.

Ball runs

Now, this gets fun. Add some balls to the mix, and then movement comes into play. We are very amateurs in this category… and our ball runs are very basic. Easy, lovely, and fun but no works of complex engineering. 😅 But we do have fun, though. 🤣

There are impressive ball runs on Instagram and Pinterest that involve so many pieces and elaboration that I really haven’t had the time to do these at home. Here is a Pinterest board with links to many ideas that I think you might enjoy creating more elaborate runs.

Make-believe

As you can see, my daughter thinks she is a mermaid, and my son is a racer.

grimms rainbow - make believe mermaid | the fairy glitch mother
grimms rainbow ideas - make believe race car | the fairy glitch mother

Small world play

The rainbow is also great for creating buildings for small world play or building tunnels and bridges when playing with roads. And they just look so lovely ☺️

We love combining the rainbow with other toys. Find out other ideas of how we play with Grimms semicircles, Grapat mandala and the waytoplay road.

Grimms rainbow on a mirror

Now, this is a fun activity (with adult supervision, of course). It is excellent for them to see and experience symmetry and how an arch is half a circle. The designs are also lovely on the mirror, but they need to be gentle and steady, so I would leave this for an activity with older children.

Games

Finally, the arches can be used as doors to have balls rolling under (like croquet), or if you put a couple together, they can be a perfect target to practice with 😉 (sorry I don’t have pictures for these for now – we were just having too much fun playing). 😅

Inspiring accounts that will invite you to play

For even more ideas, please check out these accounts and posts that will inspire you with even more for playing with the rainbow:

How to clean Grimms toys

This is advice directly taken from their website:

TIP: If you want to remove dirt from our products, simply wipe it off with a damp cloth and a little soapy water (if

This is advice directly taken from their website:

TIP: If you want to remove dirt from our products, simply wipe it off with a damp cloth and a little soapy water (if necessary). Please do not place it on the heater when drying; otherwise, cracks may appear in the wood, but allow it to dry at room temperature. Please do not under any circumstances clean our products with disinfectants, hot water, or the like!

Where to buy the large Grimms rainbow?

grimms rainbow ideas - grimms rainbow tunnels with boy 3 copy | the fairy glitch mother

You most likely will find the rainbow in wooden toy shops or Waldorf and Montessori style stores. In the biggest nearby city, you might have some that you can go in and explore.

If unfortunately, there aren’t any stores like this nearby, there are plenty of online stores where you’ll be able to find it. Aside from Amazon, I am sharing other web pages I have bought from while living in the UK and Spain (some are local, but others have international deliveries). Additionally, although I haven’t been there, I will also recommend stores from Australia based on IG accounts of people living there (based on their comments and opinions).

Store with International deliveries

  • Babipur.co.uk – You’ll even find a wide Grimms section on their site, and they deliver worldwide. Their customer service is fantastic. Although since Brexit personally getting deliveries to Spain from UK hasn’t been easy and in some cases returned to UK – so if you are in Spain I’d recommend you go for a local store.
  • Smallable – A lovely family concept store with clothes, decoration items and beautiful toys.
  • Oskar’s Wooden Ark – They are from Australia, but they also provide international shipping to selected countries (New Zealand; United States; Canada, Singapore & South Korea) using Australia Post.
  • Amazon – check out the sister site of your region and see that it’s an original from Grimm’s Holz und Spiel. There used to be some in the UK, but it is not usual in other countries.

Store with delivery in the UK

  • Babipur – of course, you have Babipur. They are from the UK, and you’ll find the iconic Rainbow here.

Stores with delivery in Spain and Portugal

  • Jugar i Jugar – Their toy portfolio is beautiful. It’s a fantastic option if you are local. Their customer service is excellent. If you purchase before 2 pm, you get your delivery the next day.
  • Aupali – It is a store in Barcelona, located in the neighborhood of Sarrià, filled with surprising toys that you’ll love. If you are ever in town, I suggest you make a stop. They also have an online store that delivers to the whole Peninsula and the Islands.
  • mumuchu.com – Also a very nice online store; however, unfortunately only local.

Store with delivery in the USA

  • Bella Luna Toys – You’ll find the large rainbow and an extensive range of Grimm’s toys. I’ve never ordered from them (I haven’t been in the US for years), but they seem very nice, have a lovely online store, and have excellent customer reviews.

Store with delivery in Canada

  • Mymy and Me – This store has a beautifully curated selection of toys, and you’ll find the rainbow and an extensive selection of Grimm’s toys as well. Ashely takes care of this small online business with a lot of passion and care. Check it out! And if you have any questions, contact her, she is really kind.

Store with delivery in Australia & New Zealand.

  • Oskar’s Wooden Ark – Based in Australia, they also provide international shipping to selected countries (New Zealand; United States; Canada, Singapore & South Korea) using Australia Post.
  • Little Toy Tribe is currently shipping orders within Australia through their website. If you are from New Zealand, contact them through email with the list of what you’d like, and they’ll send a shipping quote. 

Store with delivery in Malaysia

  • Bueno Blocks – They are the Malaysian distributor for Grimm’s toys and have an impressive range of toys from them. They are a very kind family-owned business that wishes to bring these toys to families in Malaysia.

Growing with the Grimms rainbow

grimms rainbow ideas - grimms rainbow boy inside octopus min | the fairy glitch mother

I think it is pretty clear that we absolutely love this toy at home. It has been a magical invitation to creativity and hours of open-ended play. It is fantastic to see our children grow and see how their play evolves with it. Sometimes they play with it for days… then it is there on the shelf waiting for some weeks until it is picked up again. But it is always there, in the playroom, waiting for when the inspiration may spark. So, as you can see, it is fabulous.

Hopefully, you’ll have found some new ideas to play with it even more if you have it. If you were considering buying it, hopefully, this will give you ideas to get started. If you might be considering other Grimms toys you can have a look at the ones we have at home here.

We’ve had a lot of fun playing and taking pictures this summer, and I really hope you have enjoyed seeing them as much as I had taking them.

Happy rainbow playtime!*

P.S. If you liked this post, you might also like these other posts filled with creative play ideas 😉 I hope you’ll like them!

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Updated on: March 10, 2024

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