Learning about the Weather with Kids

March 20, 2024 by Sarah White Leave a Comment

Springtime is prime time for learning about the weather where I live, because in the southern United States, spring tends to be the time with the weirdest weather. Kids need to know about storms and tornadoes so they can be safe, but it’s also just a fun thing to talk about as the seasons are changing and you’re moving from one kind of weather to another.

Kids at home or in the classroom can make a DIY weather station with these instructions from Inventors of Tomorrow. All of the components are things you might already have on hand, and the post has instructions for making a weather vane, an anenometer, rain gauge and thermometer for testing if its hotter or colder than it was the last time you made your observations. (Of course you can buy a weather station, too, but making measuring tools adds to the STEM fun.)

I’ve also shared instructions for making a barometer at home, which is also made with simple supplies you might already have. You can also make yourself a cloud spotter to help you predict the weather.

Little kids might enjoy having a felt weather board they can change each day as the weather changes, or check out more weather-related crafts. Printablee has a printable weather wheel you could also use to post the weather each day if you have a weather person in your classroom (or want to track it at home).

Sunshine, Hurricanes, Blizzards and Rainbows by Alix Wood (Windmill Books, 2023, suggested retail $12.75) teaches kids about the weather and includes games and activities like making your own weather chart, how to tell how far away a thunderstorm is and how to make your own frost. It talks about how to forecast the weather with science, why we have seasons, the water cycle, why wind happens and the names for different kinds of winds, why sunsets are colorful and more. It’s a good quick overview of basic concepts in weather and includes a quiz at the back of the book and lots of activities you can make copies of to keep kids entertained.

Willy and Lilly’s Adventures with Weather is a picture book written by a meteorologist (Jennifer Stanonis) that takes two kids through the seasons and all the weather they encounter. It’s a rhyming book that’s a quick read but would be a fun addition to a weather unit study or weather themed day for early elementary. It also includes a glossary of weather words in the back. (Criss Cross Applesauce, 2020, suggested retail $14.95)

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Book Review: Las Mañanitas

The celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is important throughout Mexico and other parts of the world. Her feast day is Dec. 12, and the celebrations honoring her appearance to Juan Diego in 1531 begin a few days before that.

Whether you celebrate yourself or just want to share about the celebration at home or in your classroom, Las Mañanitas: The Beautiful Celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a good place to start. The book, by Ernesto Joel Vega Rosales and Jeanette Gonzalez Seneviratne, with illustrations by Dana Sanmar, tells the story of a family’s celebration of the feast day in both English and Spanish.

They prepare with a novena, which is nine days of prayers and preparations. The children, Lucia and Pablo, are given special outfits made by their grandmother that look like what Juan Diego might have worn when he saw Our Lady. The book describes the prayers that are made each day, such as a prayer for respect for life, for families and for the indigenous people of the Americas, to name a few.

As told in the book, Juan Diego was a native Mexican born near modern day Mexico City. His given name was Cuaauhtlatoatzin, which means “He who speaks like an eagle.” When he converted to Christianity his name was changed to Juan Diego, and as he walked to church he passed a hill called Tepeyac. One day he heard the birds singing especially beautifully and a voice called him to go to the top of the hill.

There he saw Our Lady of Guadalupe, who asked him to tell the bishop she wanted a chapel built in her name at the foot of the hill. The bishop asked for a sign that Juan Diego really saw her, and later she had him collect flowers that she blessed and take them to the bishop. When Juan Diego dropped the flowers, an image of Our Lady could be seen on his cloak, which is still on display in her basilica to this day.

The feast day is celebrated as mañanitas, which includes singing, indigenous music and dancing, and children presenting flowers to Our Lady. Juan Diego is remembered today as being humble, brave and faithful, and was the first indigenous American made a saint.

The book is colorful and tells the story in a clear way, and it’s fun to have it both in English and Spanish if you teach Spanish or speak Spanish at home or in the classroom. It’s a great way to learn the basics of the celebration and the story of Juan Diego and why he is still remembered today.

About the book: 40 pages, paperback, published 2024 by Loyola Press. Suggested retail price $14.99.

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