How to make a weather chart for kids

The kids and I are on a weather kick. After we made the weather vane, the wheels started turning and I remembered an activity one of my first teachers came up with in elementary school.

It was a daily project that gave us opportunity to remember days of the week, observe weather patterns, and recognize how they apply to us.

Buddy and I made a similar weather chart complete with various weather symbols attached to Velcro. Every morning he looks out the window and then sticks the appropriate symbol on that day’s box on the chart.

To make your own, one sheet of poster board will do the trick, along with a couple of permanent markers, crayons, scissors, Velcro dots (2 for each day of one kind and enough of the other side to put on the back of the symbols), and tacks to hold it to the wall.

How have you been teaching your kids about weather? Have any project ideas or books you can recommend?

How to make a weather vane, littles style

Weather is a vast source of curiosity for a young child. Where does the wind come from? What are clouds made of? Why does it rain? How far away is the sun? Answering a preschooler’s questions about the weather could make up a whole year’s worth of science, or more!

This summer I wanted to make a weather vane with Buddy. I had no idea how, or if I actually could, but after just a bit of research I stumbled over the perfect project. All you need is a straw, a straight pin, an index card, a pencil with an erasor, and scotch tape. Cut a triangle out of one end of the index card, tape each piece to the ends of the straw to create an arrow, and then push the pin down through the middle of the straw into the erasor of the pencil. The straw should be able to spin freely.

Buddy planted his weather van among the tomatoes, and we talked about why the arrow always points into the wind.

Credit for this idea goes to www.galaxy.net/~k12/weather/makevane.shtml. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get the link to work unless I clicked on it directly from Google. Search for this link via “how to make a weather vane” and it will show up near the top of the search results.

Rain, Rain, GO AWAY!

This post was written yesterday, Thursday, May 19, 2011. We haven’t seen the sun in a week now and they say it will be several more before we see any :::sigh:::
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When the rain keeps pouring out of the sky, day after day, night after night, eventually you just have to say “screw it” and go jump in the puddles… or, as in our case, slosh through the grass.

By the time these two came inside four hours later, they were covered in dirt, mud, and water, and a complete change of clothes was in order. Yet they had SO much fun making mud pies and washing play dishes in sandy water they played right through lunch, and then some!

We’re quite through with all this rain and we would be very happy if it would go away for a while, but I know I shouldn’t complain. Families in the south have to leave their homes and watch them wash away in the flood. At least we had time to move before the “flood” of foreclosure.

There are also some uses for all the water soaking our land. Papa lowered one corner of our camper awning and is letting the rain run into barrels. A hose connected to a water filter and drill pump then draws the rain water into the camper water tank and is used for washing dishes, flushing the toilet, and taking baths and showers! We are not into water conservation for the purpose of “saving the earth”, but it does feel good knowing we are using the resources we have available to save time, effort, and money.

At the same time, Papa has been digging a well out back, by one of the springs on the land. So far it’s just about five feet deep. Once he’s happy with the depth, he’ll drive the point in and attach the hand pump from which we can pull water directly from the ground. Until then we only have to be concerned with keeping the kids away from the hole filled with water. A heavy piece of plywood to cover it is in order I think…

What else to do on a rainy day? How about a science project? Girlie and I filled a shallow tray with water and sprinkled it with pepper. What happens when you dip a bar of soap in the middle? What happens when you add a sprinkling of sugar? Such simple ingredients offer an interesting few minutes of entertainment and exploration!

Or, another flower project. We don’t have our holiday tree anymore, so we decorated the living room curtain rod with colored foam flower shapes. The kids drew and cut out their own shapes or helped cut out the shapes I made. A hole punch and snippets of string later and you have something colorful to lighten up the dusky view.

I heard sunshine is in the forecast, I hope to be waking up to it warming my face tomorrow!