Weather Watching and Art

Helping children to understand the weather and its impact on daily life is an important part of any preschool or kindergarten program. Our activity this week provides valuable age-appropriate sentences about this topic along with a page to encourage thought about weather. If you are not signed up to receive these free activities, please do so in the box to the right.

While you are likely encouraging children to describe the weather in your classroom by asking them if it is raining, snowing, cloudy, windy, or sunny, take this a step further. Encourage them to also verbalize what types of clothes are appropriate for this weather. You can even include items such as a raincoat, umbrella, winter coat, mittens, or just a t-shirt in the dress-up box. Have children pull out the type of clothing that is appropriate for the day. Ask them to explain why they chose the specific item for the weather.

Additionally, you can develop verbal skills and thinking skills by asking children to describe activities that are appropriate for the day. If it is raining, help them prepare for indoor activities by talking about this during your opening. Ask them to plan what they will do inside. This pre-planning avoids upset children when you can’t be on the playground.

Make the home-school connection by encouraging parents to begin watching the weather at home. Tell parents they can encourage thinking skills along with verbal skills by having children plan what they will wear based on the weather.  This is a wonderful way to partner with families to share age-appropriate activities.

For a fun and meaningful art activity, watch the video below:

Standards Alignment:
NAEYC Alignment:
Using developmental knowledge to create healthy, respectful, supportive, and challenging learning environments for young children.

Head Start Alignment:
Develops growing awareness of ideas and language related to attributes of time and temperature.