Who can guess the rainbow in this fun game that uses a bag of Skittles, guessing skills, and a little math! The perfect game for St. Patrick’s Day or any rainbow themed celebration! Fun for kids, teens, and adults who’ll enjoy the anticipation of counting for the win!
I’m a big fan of anything to do with rainbows and candy. Roll a rainbow, chase the rainbow, rainbow donuts, rainbow cupcakes – you name it. This rainbow guessing game incorporates both into a fun and easy (yet challenging) game for all ages!
Simply put – you’re trying to see who can guess what comes in a Skittles bag, color by color. Whoever guesses the closest wins!
Play with the kids, play with a group of adults, add it to your favorite 1st grade learning games. Play in-person, play virtually. There are so many ways you can use this game, that’s one of the reasons I’m so excited about it!
This would also be a really fun addition to any rainbow baby shower (or many of these other baby shower themes for girls).
Supplies
You only really need four things to play this game:
- Bag of Skittles – you can do any size you want. I typically just do a regular candy bar size, just make sure that it’s either traditional Skittles or Sour Skittles so the colors match the cards (red, orange, green, yellow, purple). The larger the bag, the more difficult it gets to come close.
- Guess the Rainbow cards – you can download sheets of the guessing game at the bottom of this post or get them in my shop here. There are four to a card.
- Pen/pencil – one for each person to write on their game.
- Prizes – see prizes section at the bottom of this post for an explanation on the prizes!
How to play
Before you play, give everyone a copy of the guessing game and a writing utensil of some sort.
Show them the unopened bag of Skittles so they know how big it is.
Hint!
According to Wrigley, a standard 2.17 ounce bag of Skittles contains an average of 56 pieces of candy. Feel free to share this with the players before the guessing starts if you’re using a 2.17 ounce bag. Just know that’s average, some will have more or less.
Have everyone make their guesses as to how many of each color will be inside the bag. The goal is to get as close as possible to each color. Unlike in this price is right game, it doesn’t matter if you’re too high or too low, it’s just getting as close as possible.
Give everyone just a few minutes (it’s only five colors so shouldn’t take too long) and once they’re done, have them turn their card over or put their pencil down.
How to Score
If you’re worried about honesty, have everyone switch cards with someone else for the scoring. Hopefully this isn’t an issue but just putting it out there.
Open the bag of Skittles and pour them into a large bowl.
One color at a time, count how many Skittles there are of each color and announce it to the group. Everyone should put the actual number on their cards and calculate the difference between their guess and the actual number (positive/minus doesn’t matter).
So if you guessed 7 and there were 9, the difference would be 2. If you guess 9 and there seven, the difference would still be 2.
Go through all five colors then add up the total of the numbers on the difference lines.
The person who has the LOWEST difference number wins.
Prizes
Okay so there are a couple of ways you can give out prizes for this game. You can either give out just a prize for the lowest difference winner OR you can give out six prizes – one for the person closest for each color and a total difference winner.
If you’re going to do six prizes, I recommend using a larger bag of Skittles so it’s unlikely that you’ll end up with a tie. Or have a tie breaker of some sort figured out – maybe a guess the color of the Skittle in your hand and whoever guesses wins the prize.
Here are some fun prize ideas that would be great for this rainbow game!
- Skittles (obviously)
- Rainbow suckers
- Rainbow magnet (these are so cute!)
- Rainbow Airheads
- Twisted Rainbow Punch Sweetart Ropes
- Macrame Rainbow Keychain (would be really fun for a baby shower)
- Llama game (complete with rainbow llama cards)
- Rainbow body soap
Expert Tips
Go virtual by having everyone just write down their guesses (no need to use the cards) on a piece of paper. Then either drop off prizes, send digital prizes, or don’t do the prizes and just have fun playing!
Laminate the cards and play again next year or next month. Every bag of Skittles is going to be a little different so you can play again and again.
Skip the game and make it a fun math activity for kids instead. Have them guess the number in a fun-size Skittles bag, do the math once they open it, and get the Skittles as a reward for completing the math activity!
Count the Skittles ahead of time if you’re using a large bag with a large group (and doing individual prizes) then just put them back into the bag and tape it shut. Counting all of those Skittles can be fun as the pressure mounts during counting but can also take time. Decide if you have the time do the counting in person.
Game FAQs
What age is this game good for?
If you can guess and write numbers, this game is good for you! If you can guess but can’t write, pair team members together (like preschoolers and parents) to get everyone involved.
Do I have to use regular Skittles?
The cards are designed to be used with regular or Sour Skittles since they have red, orange, yellow, green, and purple color slots. If you want to use a different type of Skittle, feel free to just have players write down their answers on a piece of paper.
What else can I do with Skittles?
This Skittles gratitude game is a fun one (during Thanksgiving or not) or you could play one of my favorite birthday party games!
Do you have any more math games?
This rolling math dice game is a fun one, there are a few with my DIY dice, and these activity placemats have a few others! If that’s not enough, I have a huge collection of math games for kids here!
More Candy Activities
If you liked this Skittles guessing game, you’ll love these other games that incorporate candy as well!
- Candy campfires – learn how to build a campfire by building it with candy first! This printable activity is one kids and teens will love!
- Candy cane games – an entire collection of family-friendly games using just candy canes!
- Guess the food game – see who can guess what candy they’re eating is first! This hilarious game is great for Halloween or any time of year!
- New Year’s Eve dice game – roll the dice to win, lose, and pass candy to your friends!
- Saran wrap game – wrap pieces of candy into a large saran wrap ball then roll the dice for a chance to unwrap!
Looking for more PRINTABLE GAMES?
Download Guess the Rainbow
Enter your first name and email address in the form below to get the printable PDF. You will receive a link to download the PDF to your email within minutes.
If you’d rather not provide your email, you can get a copy in my shop here.
If you do not see the form, click here to get to it.
If you do not see the email immediately after you fill out the form, make sure to check your promotions, spam, and junk folders!
The file will include:
- Instructions
- Quarter sheet (four to a page) game cards
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