Hello Friends,
This is Cindy from
Kinderkay Love Those Kinders. In kindergarten, we work on weather
concepts all year, but I really LOVE concentrating on weather in the spring for many
reasons... One reason is that I live in Central Illinois and we can get every kind of weather you can think of in the spring! One day it is 70 degrees and two days later, we are wearing our winter coats. It's also a great time to observe clouds because they are always changing, too! When we begin talking about weather, we look at real photos of weather, take a walk outside to look for clouds and weather related changes like branches blown off trees, footprints in the mud, and buds growing on bushes and flower stems. Because my kinders are so much more independent and able to write in the spring, it is the perfect time to do a few cute writing activities that are related to weather AND..... it covers both a literacy goal and a science goal! A win-win!
After we do a few nature walks, I like to have my kiddos create a "Weather Field Guide". I show them different types of guides (They know that a field guide is a non-fiction book that gives information) and they do this short half-sized Weather booklet. It includes types of weather as well as types of clouds.
After they create their field guide, we use it to take another nature walk. We look at the clouds and decide what kind of weather we are seeing.
I read several weather books to them and we discuss the types of weather found in each book. We also discuss what we can do in different types of weather.
This is also the time of year when we talk about nouns and the words that describe them - adjectives. Describing weather is a perfect way to learn about adjectives. Here is our list... It's not perfect, but a pretty good first attempt!
By this time, they are ready to write about weather. They draw a picture of their favorite kind of weather and what they enjoy doing in that weather. Then they write a few sentences about it. It was easier for them to equate weather to the seasons, so most of them wrote about their favorite season; which was fine with me. If you would like this writing activity, click
HERE.
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After they do their writing, they are ready to create their weather kid. The first thing they do is trace a person shape upon white paper and use crayons to color their face and hair. (I have them use crayons to color their faces because I do not like the look of painted faces. That's just me, though!) After their face is colored, they use paints to create the clothes that they would wear in that particular type of weather.
Most of my kiddos chose sunny, summer weather as their favorite....
but there were a few spring, fall, and winter fans.....
So.... that's just a few activities that you can do if you are studying weather. There are TONS of links and activities that you can do to make your weather study a STEM project. This is simply a fun way to reinforce or introduce your present weather unit. If you are interested in creating my weather field guide, you can find it by clicking the image below....
Julie, from Mrs. Lee's Kindergarten has some really cute weather ideas on her blog... Here are a few photos. To go to her blog, click the images... I love these little meteorologists!
If you are looking for resources for a little older child, Rachel, from The Tattooed Teacher, has an awesome close reading, comprehension and foldable one.....
So, that's it for now, my friends.... Happy Spring!
Until next time...
