Weather

April showers bring May flowers! The children learned about the different types of weather and explored weather themed activities. 

We read books about rain, mud and wind. 

In circle time, we read a story about rain and learned that clouds are made out of water droplets. “Inside the clouds, the water drops grow bigger and bigger. After a while they grow so big and so heavy, they fall right out of the sky and it rains.” We then did a science experiment that demonstrates that process. We put water in a jar as the “air” then a pile of shaving cream as the “cloud.” Then I added drops of blue dyed water as the water droplets. As I added more and more drops into the “cloud” it slowly started to seep through the cloud into the “air” and it started to rain. The children also took turns putting drops of water into the “cloud.” 

For our art projects, the children used eye droppers to make a rain scene and added cotton balls as the clouds. 

The children also made suns and added sun rays by painting with forks. 

The last project was a storm cloud. A cloud shaped cut out was taped onto white paper. The children then used sponges to paint around the cut out. When the cut out was pulled off it revealed a cloud silhouette. The children added pre-cut lightning bolts to make it a thunder and lightning storm. 

At one of the tables, the children sorted rain pattern counters with the correct weather pattern on our weather poster. We talked about what each symbol represented and which pattern it went with. At the other table, the children used their fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination to thread a lace through the holes of different weather pattern themed lacing cards.

In the sensory table, the children made it “rain.” In the table, there were yogurt cups with holes poked in the bottom. The children filled the cup then held it up high and watched the rain come down. As the children played, they sang “rain, rain go away, come back another day.” There were also toy boats in the water as well. 

We had been talking about how all the rain in April and the start of spring makes flowers and trees start to bloom. Outside on the playground, we discovered lots of Maple tree sprouts. The children first discovered them in the sand box. It was a terrific observation. I loved that the children were curious and asked about the sprouted seeds they found. I talked about how the seeds fall from the Maple trees that hang over into the play yard. We discussed how they can start to sprout if they receive water and sunlight. The children then explored the whole playground and went on a scavenger hunt to see how many of the little Maple tree sprouts they could find. Now every time we go to the playground some of our friends search for the sprouts to see if any have grown taller.