20+ Weather Theme Learning Activities for Preschoolers

Inside: Hands-on weather theme learning activities for preschoolers and toddlers

Weather is a delightful preschool theme to explore because weather is something children can see and experience everyday! My favorite time to explore a weather theme is during season transitions. The weather changes so quickly. It can be all hot and sunny today and cold and wet the next day. Nothing beats these real-life experiences!

This weather theme got my children so excited. Our monthly weather chart was a big hit! Every morning, they jumped out of bed to check the weather outside and fill in our monthly weather chart. 

Related: Everything You Need to Know about Setting Up a Themed Learning Shelf

Read on for a list of all the fun weather preschool theme activities we did this month. 

The weather theme activities are created for children of ages 2 years old to 6 years old. All the activities are categorized into the six main learning areas (language, numeracy, motor skills, discovery of the world, arts & creative expression, social & emotional development.

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WEATHER THEME LEARNING ACTIVITIES FOR TODDLERS (2 TO 3 YEARS OLD)

• Shape Suncatcher: Sort shape cut outs into 4 basic shapes and stick them on the respective shape sun catchers. The frames are made with card stock papers that are cut into the 4 basic shapes. Then attach contact paper, with the sticky side up in the centre. (numeracy, motor skills)

• Rain & Cloud Shaker Bottle: drop cut up straws (rain) and cotton balls (clouds) into a bottle. (motor skills)

• Rainbow Color Mixing: explore and mix colors of the rainbow in a zigloc bag (motor skills, discovery of the world, arts & creative expression)

• Rainbow Color Matching Box: match the colors of the rainbow and poke popsicle sticks into a box (motor skills, discovery of the world)

• Dot Sticker Sun: match and paste dot stickers of the same color on the sun rays (motor skills)

• Cotton clouds: paste cotton wool on a blue paper to create clouds (motor skills, discovery of the world, arts and creative expression)

All of the above activities for toddlers are suitable for preschoolers as well.

WEATHER THEME LEARNING ACTIVITIES FOR PRESCHOOLERS (4 TO 6 YEARS OLD)

• Name Snow Dotting: dot your name with white paint (snow) and cotton bud (language, motor skills)

• Snowball Letter Match: Match all 26 letters on circle cut outs (the snow balls) to the letters on the blue paper. Provide a glue stick to stick these circles for extra motor skill practise or simply use white dot stickers. (language, motor skills)

• Rainbow Dot Sticker Name: Make name rainbows with colorful dot stickers. Kids get to color matching and colors of the rainbow at the same time. (language, motor skills)

• Snowflakes Symmetry: Using painter’s tape or washing tape, create the other half of a snowflakes using symmetry rules.

• Match popsicle sticks with the words 阳 or 雨 written on them to the sun or the rain clouds. You can adapt this activity for English by writing the letters S and R or words sun and rain on the popsicle sticks. (language)

• Button on the ‘sun rays’ (long rectangle strips cut from yellow felt) onto the cardboard ‘sun’. I used hot glue to attach the buttons to the cardboard ‘sun’. (motor skills)

• Sew ‘rain drops’ (yarn) onto a DIY cardboard sewing board. We use a plastic yarn needle which is easy and safe for children to handle. (motor skills)

• Make a daily weather chart. At the end of the month, make a graph using the data collected (numeracy, discovery of the world)

• Count ‘rain drops’ (cut up blue straws) from the rain clouds (numeracy)

• Raindrop Shapes: A fun game for preschoolers to practice cutting with scissors

• Play with a DIY ‘What’s the weather like outside?’ paper plate toy. Check out this video to see the toy in action. (discovery of the world)

Weather Theme CRAFTS, EXPERIMENTS & SENSORY PLAY

• Rain in a bottle: Stuff cotton balls at the top of a bottle and add blue water bit by bit to the cotton balls using a dropper. Eventually the cotton balls (the rain clouds) will be soak with water and water will start to drip into the bottle like rain. (discovery of the world, motor skills)

• Make a water cycle in a (ziploc) bag: Draw some clouds, an ocean and a sun on the bag and add some colored water. Attach the bag on the window. Observe the water evaporating and condensing in the bag over the next few days. (discovery of the world)

• Make a colorful rain painting: Place a paper standing in a tub/tray. Use a dropper and drip water color down the paper.(arts & creative expression, motor skills)

• Play with a ‘rain clouds’ sensory bin: Fill a tub with cotton balls. Provide droppers and colored water for some water sensory fun. (discovery of the world, motor skills)

• Make a windmill: Go outside on a windy day and play with a DIY milk carton windmill. You can see my son playing with this windmill in this video. The video tutorial to make this windmill is found here. (discovery of the world, motor skills)

Weather Theme Books for Preschoolers

Check out this list of over 20 weather theme books for preschoolers here.

More Weather Theme Learning Activities here:

• Pinterest Idea Board: [theme] WEATHER
• Unique Hashtag on Instagram: #weatherhts

Be sure to check out the rest of our theme learning shelves and activities!

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