# The Rainbow Map

- Link: https://thecuriosi.com/english-language-lab-for-kids/stories-for-kids/grandma-and-make-believe-prompts/journeys-to-the-end-of-the-rainbow/
- Published: 2026-10-30T02:32:53+05:30
- Author: MAHENDRA MANCHIKALAPATI

[English Language Lab](https://thecuriosi.com/english-language-lab-for-kids/)/[Stories for Kids](https://thecuriosi.com/english-language-lab-for-kids/stories-for-kids/)/
[Grandma & Make-Believe Prompts](https://thecuriosi.com/english-language-lab-for-kids/stories-for-kids/grandma-and-make-believe-prompts/)/
The Rainbow Map

✦An original make-believe story

# The Rainbow Map

A rainbow in Grandma’s story becomes a shifting path of colour. Leela learns to 
change her map when a journey reveals something unexpected.

📖 4-minute read🍃 Ages 5–11✨ Flexible thinking and enjoying discovery

[Begin reading ](https://thecuriosi.com/english-language-lab-for-kids/stories-for-kids/grandma-and-make-believe-prompts/journeys-to-the-end-of-the-rainbow/#sf-story-text)
[More grandma & make-believe prompts](https://thecuriosi.com/english-language-lab-for-kids/stories-for-kids/grandma-and-make-believe-prompts/)

![A girl and her grandmother follow a picture map along an imaginary garden path
with a rabbit beneath an arch of coloured light.](https://thecuriosi.com/wp-content/
uploads/2026/10/rainbow-map-illustration.png)

**A journey that changed the map**Read together · Retell · Imagine

Settle in and read at your pace

A story to read together

## The Rainbow Map

Take your time. Let the story unfold.

A rainbow appeared above the garden after a shower. Leela looked from the window
and asked Grandma whether they could walk to its end. Grandma explained that a real
rainbow was an effect of light and water droplets, not a coloured bridge standing
in a fixed place. Then she opened their story notebook. “In make-believe, though,
we can invent a rainbow journey.” Leela drew a map with a bold red path.

Chapter one

### The path that turned

Inside their imagined garden, the rainbow reached towards a small green hill. Leela
and Grandma followed the red path on the map. But when they arrived at the hill,
the rainbow in the story curved towards a flower arch instead. Leela frowned. “The
map is wrong.” Grandma looked at the page. “It shows what we expected before we 
began.” They added a picture of the hill and a little bend beside it. A talking 
rabbit near the arch asked what they were looking for.

Chapter two

### A question from Rabbit

“The end of the rainbow,” Leela replied. Rabbit twitched one ear. “What do you hope
to find there?” Leela had not decided. A treasure box, perhaps, or a grand door.
Rabbit showed them a round puddle reflecting the coloured sky. It was not the end
of anything, but Leela liked the upside-down flowers around its edge. She added 
the puddle to the map. The page now held something they had found, not only something
they were trying to reach.

Chapter three

### The bench in the blue shade

Beyond the arch, a blue path led to a small bench. Grandma wanted to rest, so they
sat and watched their imaginary garden change in the light. Leela noticed how many
colours appeared in a wet leaf. Rabbit described a purple flower that opened near
the path. There was no need to hurry past every interesting thing just because Leela’s
first drawing had pointed somewhere else. She drew a bench on the map and left enough
space beside it for the story she would tell about their stop.

Chapter four

### What came home on the page

Back beside the real window, Leela looked at their finished map. The red path was
still there, but now it passed a hill, an arch, a puddle, and a resting place. They
had not reached a real rainbow endpoint or brought home a treasure box. They had
made an imaginary journey worth remembering. Leela titled the page with a small 
rainbow drawing. “Next time, I can leave some of the map empty,” she said. Grandma
nodded. Outside, the colours were fading, and the ordinary garden had new things
for them to notice.

The end

### Story path

[01The path that turned](https://thecuriosi.com/english-language-lab-for-kids/stories-for-kids/grandma-and-make-believe-prompts/journeys-to-the-end-of-the-rainbow/#sf-chapter-1)
[02A question from Rabbit](https://thecuriosi.com/english-language-lab-for-kids/stories-for-kids/grandma-and-make-believe-prompts/journeys-to-the-end-of-the-rainbow/#sf-chapter-2)
[03The bench in the blue shade](https://thecuriosi.com/english-language-lab-for-kids/stories-for-kids/grandma-and-make-believe-prompts/journeys-to-the-end-of-the-rainbow/#sf-chapter-3)
[04What came home on the page](https://thecuriosi.com/english-language-lab-for-kids/stories-for-kids/grandma-and-make-believe-prompts/journeys-to-the-end-of-the-rainbow/#sf-chapter-4)

### Word basket

**flexible**willing to change a plan when you learn something new

**reflect**to send back light so an image can be seen

**expected**thought likely to happen

**discovery**something you learn or notice for the first time

**Read it together**

The talking rabbit and shifting coloured paths belong to fantasy. A real rainbow
has no fixed physical endpoint that you can walk up to. The story invites curiosity
and changing a plan, not chasing a rainbow into unfamiliar places.

## After the final page

There is no single right answer. Invite young readers to notice, wonder and imagine.

Remember

Why did the map change during the story?

Think

What did Rabbit’s question help Leela think about?

Imagine

What made the imaginary journey valuable without a treasure box?

**Make something:** Draw a made-up journey with three interesting stopping places.
Leave one blank space for a surprise that a partner can add.

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