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Inside: Weather theme for kids – Discover a great list of weather activities, books about weather, and fun projects for kids.
Some time ago, my son’s teacher read a book about super storms during class, and it immediately captured his interest.
He started asking questions about storms and wanted us to read more books about weather, so we decided to explore this topic together through some fun activities.
My son loves investigate things on his own, so I decided to create a weather-themed discovery table for him. I wanted him to have a few learning materials at hand anytime he wanted to explore them, and also add a some activities for us to do together.
I ended up creating a learning area dedicated to the weather theme, and my son loves it!
If your kids are interested in learning about weather as well, I gathered here all the resources we used, plus our list of fun weather activities for kids.
Weather theme: What we included in our learning area
One of the easiest way to encourage kids to learn more about a topic is to create a small learning area (or discovery table) and let them explore all the materials.
Our “discovery table” is actually the top of a toy shelf in our playroom.
The learning area includes:
- a display board I created using some great printable resources I discovered on Etsy (you can find the link below)
- books about weather
- a set of note cards with activity ideas for us to try while exploring this theme (you will find the list of activities below)
- a set of weather words (written on cardboard pieces)
- a set of weather gnomes (link below)
- a tray including a weather log and a weather tracker for my son to use for recording the weather
- an indoor thermometer.
Below you can find the list of resources we used to create our weather-themed discovery table.
Books about weather:
- National Geographic Readers: Weather – a little book for level 1 readers that talks about what causes the weather we experience every day.
- National Geographic Readers: Storms – a book from the same collection that shares facts and photos about storms
- Curious Questions & Answers about Weather – a great book that offers answers to many questions about weather (we bought this book from Scholastic, but I added here an Amazon link so you can see how the book looks inside)
- Twister on Tuesday (part of the Magic Tree House series) – a chapter book that fits great into the weather theme
- Hello, World! Weather – a cute board book about weather and the seasons (I included this book on our learning space because I wanted my youngest son to have a book about this topic as well)
Printable resources:
- printable Weather Bundle (by StephHathawayDesigns on Etsy)
- printable Tornado Science & Safety Unit Study (by StephHathawayDesigns on Etsy)
- printable weather log and tracker created by me
Other resources:
- a set of Weather Pocket Gnomes (they look very cute and are a great way to make learning about weather more playful)
Weather theme: Learning activities for kids
My plan is to focus on this theme for 2 weeks. During this time, we will spend some time every day reading books about weather or watching videos on this topic.
In addition to that, I also prepared a set of 10 activity ideas to try together. I wrote each idea on a note card so my son can chose one of them anytime he wants.
Here are the activities I included on our list:
1 – Build a rainbow windsock (tutorial here by The Crafting Chicks) – a lovely way to combine creativity with learning
2 – Water cycle in a bag (by Playdough to Plato) – an easy experiment that teaches kids about the water cycle
3 – Track the weather for 12 days using the tracker
4 – Use the weather log to record the daily weather – a simple way to gather data and analyze the results to see how the weather looks like over a period of time
5 – Rainbow art (creating a rainbow using pieces of paper) – a simple activity that is great for many ages
6 – Learn about clouds and build different cloud types out of paper
7 – Thunderstorm Art Project (by Buggy and Buddy) – a stormy art activity using paint and construction paper that is suitable for many ages
8 – Weather drawings (using our list of weather words as inspiration)
9 – Rain cloud in a jar (by Gift of Curiosity) – we did this experiment in the past, but it will be fun to try it again
10 – Make an “All about weather” book – a playful way to encourage kids to talk about what they learned
More weather activities for kids
Here are more fun weather activities for kids that I discovered while searching for ideas for us to try:
- Snow Density Science Experiment for Kids (by The Science Kiddo)
- Preschool Cotton Ball Clouds Activity (by iHeartCraftyThings)
- Weather science: How to make a cloud in a jar (by Gift of Curiosity)
- Weather Mobile Craft for Kids (by Buggy and Buddy)
- Rain Storm Sticky Wall Activity For Toddlers (by Mama of Littles)
Weather theme: Educational videos about weather for kids
Here are some great educational videos that teach kids about weather:
- How to create a tornado in a bottle (a fun experiment you can easily try with the kids)
(Another helpful resource: Tornado facts by National Geographic Kids)
I hope your kids will enjoy these ideas!
