Easy and Fun Weather Activities for Kids and a Free Weather Song
Air currents are a major cause of weather, but because children cannot see air, it can be hard for them to understand it as a real and powerful force. Try these activities to help young children understand the forces at work behind the weather.
Experiences with Wind
- One simple way to experience air is to feel its movement and watch its effect by creating wind. Lay out a variety of objects: a feather, a paper bag, a paper cup, a marble, a ball, a rock, a pencil, etc. Then ask children to try to move the objects by blowing on them. Observe the moment of the objects. Try again with a hand air pump (children love playing with these). Record the movement of the objects again. Try other ways to make wind, like a paper fan or air from a balloon. What was the difference between the methods? How did the different tools change how the objects moved?
- Use a wind vane to experienc wind direction. You can purchase one or use these directions from Howcast.com to make your own. Using your "wind making tools", allow children to try to make the wind vane move. How can they use the wind vane to show wind direction? What can they learn from watching the wind vane?
- Use an anemometer to show wind speed. You can purchase one or use this cute guide by WeatherAnchorMama to make your own. Have the children blow on the anemometer and count how many times the marked cups spins around. What makes the wind blow the fastest? What makes it blow slowest?
- Make a wind sock by cutting out the bottom of a paper bag, decorating the bag to personalize it, and tying (or taping) yarn to one end. Hold on to the yarn and drag the paper bag through the air. What happens as air moves through the bag?
Experiences with Air Current
- Try these experiments by Jared Hottenstein to show that warm air rises and cold air sinks. (Be careful with these ones as they involve heat. Keep yourself and your children safe when trying these experiments!
- Another way to show air currents is with a lamp and powder, Turn on the lamp. It will heat up and warm the air above it. Have the children sprinkle a small amount of powder over the lamp. The powder will float in the air currents above the lamp.
Experiences with Lightning & Thunder
- Purchase thunder tubes, rain sticks, and glow sticks, or make your own using these guides from Instructables and Exploratorium. Turn of the lights and have the children create a dance to represent a thunderstorm.
- Make it rain in a jar. Fill a glass jar with boiling water. Set a bowl on top and fill it with ice cubes. The hot water in the jar will evaporate and then condense at the top of the jar. Soon, water droplets will begin to fall like rain.
- Rub two balloons with wool (or your hair). Bring the balloons together in the dark and you will see a spark of static electricity. That's the same kind of electricity that causes lightning!
Experiences With Clouds
- Make a cloud in a bottle. Fill a large jar with hot water, swirl the water around to heat up the sides of the jar. Pour out all of the water except for a small amount at the bottom. Set something over the top of the jar (like a strainer, bowl, or the lid of the jar) and fill it with ice cubes. Let it sit for a moment. Take off the lid and quickly spray in some hairspray. Cover the jar top with the ice cubes again. The water vapor will attach to the hairspray and create a cloud inside the jar.
- Go outside and observe the clouds, then make cloud art from white felt, cotton balls, or by blotting white paint on paper.
- Clouds can be used to predict the weather. Use a table (such as the one below) to keep track of clouds and the weather that comes with them. In the morning, draw a picture of the clouds in the sky. In the afternoon, observe the weather. What kinds of clouds predict what kinds of weather?
Experiences With The Effects of Weather
- One of the most personal experiences a child can have with weather, is the effect it has on them. Discuss how weather effects clothing choices and activities. How does weather effect each child personally? Stories about the weather can be an excellent prompt for student writing.
Also available at Teachers Pay Teachers!
Product Description
This Weather Thematic Unit written with academic core standards in mind, is divided into areas of literature, music, art, literacy, math, worksheets, science, creative writing, word wall, and guided reading. The activities are clearly written, easy to use, and need limited amounts of preparation.
Literacy Activities
Clouds: Using The Books, Little Cloud by Eric Carle and It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles G. Shaw
Rain, Rain Go Away: Sorting Short & Long Aa Vowel Sounds
Oh What Will I Wear: Word Substitution
Scripted Literacy Lessons:
Tomorrow's Weather: Decoding Words
Splashing Puddles: Sight Words
Blizzard: Differentiation of b and d
Raining Cats and Dogs Game: Final Phoneme Substitution
Writing Sight Words
Math Activities
Temperature Takeover: Identifying & Comparing Numbers The Windy Day Mix-up: Building Mental Math Skills Raindrop Recognition: Subitizing The Terrible Blizzard: Practice Relating Numbers One to Another. Weather Toss: Collecting & Interpreting Data
Science
Creating a Weather Science Center
Water Drops: Observing & Exploring Water Properties
Water Flows Down: Observing & Exploring Water Properties
Water Painting: Observing & Exploring Evaporation
Wonderful Water: Observing & Exploring Water Properties
Art Projects
Clouds: Extending Literature
My Weather Book: Creating a Guided Reader
Songs/Fingerplays
Little Drops of Rain
The Weather
Mr. Sun
Rain, Rain Go Away
What Will I Wear Today
Guided Reading Books
Water Changes
Writing
Weather Word Wall
My Favorite Kind of Weather
What I Know About Clouds
Also Available at Teachers Pay Teachers!
Product Description
Who doesn't love Spring and lambs and lions? Bring that excitement into every area of the curriculum with this adorable thematic unit. Developmentally appropriate for young learners and strategically linked to Core Standards!
Songs:
Lamb and Lion
March Wind
Art:
Lamb and Lion Portfolio Page
Literacy:
Lamb and Lion Sight Words
Lamb and Lion Alphabet Fluency
Lamb Days: Reading Simple Sentences
Math:
Flip It: Decomposing Numbers
Baby Lambs: Using Ten-Frames
Lambs and Lions I Can: Matching Equations and Sumbs
Math Calendar Numbers
Guided Reading:
Lamb and Lion Reader
Writing:
Lamb and Lion Word Wall
Writing Prompts
Write the Room: Sight Words
Remember to get your free MP3 http://www.kindergartenkiosk.com/kindergartenkiosk/2/22/in-like-a-lion-or-in-like-a-lamb
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