Learning about the Weather with Kids

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)

I did a post earlier this year with activities and ideas for teaching the alphabet, but a lot or learning letters and recognizing them just has to do with seeing them and working with them a lot.

That means coloring, tracing, identifying things that start with different letters and more.

One way to reinforce the letters is through little activity books like these cute printable alphabet books from Life Over Cs.

These are available for free when you subscribe to her newsletter, and I’d say that’s well worth it if you have a little one (or a group of little ones!) working on the alphabet and letter recognition.

Each mini book includes a collection of things that start with that letter to color, color and read with words that start with the letter, tracing the letter, finding the letter in a grid and other coloring pages with objects that start with that letter.

These little books are super useful reinforcing the different letters and giving kids different activities related to the letters.

If you do a letter of the day or letter of the week you can use a new book for each one, and then keep the copies in your reading center or in a basket where kids can look at them again.

And of course you can add in all the other letter activities you like, go on a scavenger hunt for items that start with that letter, read alphabet books, practice writing letters in rice or with pompoms or playdough or whatever sensory activities you like.

You can grab the free printables when you enter you email address at Life Over Cs, and check out her other great alphabet resources and activities while you are over there.

Do you have favorite activities for teaching letters to kids? I’d love to hear about them!

[Photo: Life Over Cs]

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