Children love to learn about the weather! When exploring Spring weather, children have many opportunities to explore with these 5 senses activities!
Sight – Whats_the_Weather_Like
Observe the weather outside each day!
What is the weather outside TODAY? Look in the newspaper each day and at the weather map in the paper (the children can also visit http://www.weather.com.) Show the children how to tell where it will rain, snow, storm, or be sunny. Save the week’s forecast from the newspaper for your city and compare it with the actual weather each day. Was the weather prediction in the paper correct? Have the children predict what the weather will be like tomorrow? Write down or graph what the children predict? See if they are right!
Smell – RainbowPrintingPaper
Ask your children if they can SMELL the weather? Take your children outside for a walk to experience the smells in nature after different types of weather (suggestions for things to smell: tree bark, leaves, rain collecting in different areas, flowers, rocks, grasses, weeds, etc.) *Note: children with seasonal allergies should avoid smelling different weeds/flowers especially during the Spring* Discuss with your children different ways to describe what they smell. Have the children copy, stamp, or write a descriptive word (or words) onto the rainbow paper (linked above) after each of your walks.
Scented Word Suggestions:
| Bad | Good | Fruity |
| Stinky | Sweet | Woodsy |
| Yucky | Yummy | Perfumed |
| Earthy | Sharp | Musty |
| Spicy | Fresh | Sour |
Hearing – Weather Sounds
Set out different items that could be used to make the sounds that nature makes. Set out a cookie sheet, pots, utensils, &/or storage containers and have the children make thunder with their hands. Set out a pie tin and a cup with rice. Have the children pour the rice into the pie plate making rain sound. Have the children make sounds for each other. You might also have the children close their eyes while sounds are being made. What type of weather does it sound like? Make up some weather sounds of your own. You might also use shoes, paper towel tubes to blow through, beans for hail, etc.
Touch – TORN PAPER THUNDERSTORMS
Materials needed: Blue, black, and yellow construction paper and blue tempera paint.
Use blue construction paper and invite the children to finger paint with blue tempera paint for the background of the “storm” (it is fun to add texture to the paint by adding cornmeal before finger painting). Have the children tear (or cut) a large black “cloud” from black construction paper and lay it over the blue paint (the blue paint will act as glue so none is necessary.) The children can then cut or tear yellow rectangles from construction paper and lay them length-wise under the black cloud. The thunderstorm now has lightning. The storm pictures make great crafts to display at home or in the classroom during the spring!
Taste – Raindrop and Cloud Cups
Make a weather-themed snack with your kids. Have the children layer blueberries (raindrops) and clouds (whipped topping) in individual bowls for a fun and easy snack. Serve with graham crackers and milk for a tasty and nutritional snack!
For more Spring Weather Resources, see the Spring Weather Thematic Unit here on the blog!