Today’s forecast is… let’s learn about weather this week!
BOOK OF THE DAY AND STEAM ACTIVITY
The Pigeon Finds A Hotdog by Mo Willems
Even though I’ve got an impressive collection of children’s books, I couldn’t seem to find many that related to weather and I didn’t have time to go searching the store. I also don’t want to give you the impression you need to go buy a new book for every lesson. While some topic related books are a fantastic way to jump into a new week, there are an array of other simple lessons to be found in your own home library. This week we started with The Pigeon Finds A Hotdog. Have you ever read a book by Mo Willems? Just the simple illustrations will be enough to draw you in. These books are hysterical! And give you the opportunity to make up goofy voices. This particular book follows the Pigeon’s journey of just trying to eat his hotdog. A duckling joins him. This little guy’s got a clever side – and a taste for that hotdog too. So what do two birds do with one hotdog? I’m sure you guessed it. My son, being an only child and not in a daycare program, doesn’t have a lot of experience engaging with other kids, or sharing. We try our best but sharing with your parents is just not the same. Books like this one can show him sharing in a fun way.
Zip Lock Rain Cycle
Our STEAM activity was pretty simple today. We talked about clouds and rain. The sun warms water from lakes and rivers, it evaporates into the air and becomes an invisible gas. That gas collects in the sky and forms clouds. They grow and get heavier with more water. When the clouds get too heavy, the gas turns into liquid and it falls from the clouds as rain. To visualize this, we made little rain bags.
All you need is a clear ziploc baggie, a sharpie and a little water. First we drew on the ziploc. We drew a low water line. I found that this experiment worked better will a smaller amount of water. Then at the top we drew a sun and clouds. We filled the baggie with water up to the line and then taped it to a warm window. While this activity won’t form actual clouds, it does form condensation on the walls of the baggie that look like misty clouds. As the condensation built up we noticed little lines of runoff, or rain. If you do this experiment yourself, I would recommend starting it at the beginning of the day and checking back periodically as it does take awhile to see each stage.
SING-A-LONG
How’s The Weather by Super Simple Songs
HANDS ON LEARNING AND WORKSHEET
What Is The Weather?
Picture association has been a great way for my son to learn new subjects. I drew up some weather flashcards and a “What Is The Weather?” worksheet that we could use in tandem. I showed him a flashcard and asked him to identify it and then point to it on the worksheet. Symbols for sun and rain were the easiest, but after a week of study he could recognize wind and fog too.
Click here for What Is The Weather? worksheet/coloring page
B Is For Blue
To work on recognizing the letter B and throw in some color learning, I gave him a B Is For Blue coloring page and asked him to pull blue crayons from his jars. Eventually we will have a lesson on coloring in the lines.
Click here for B Is For Blue coloring page
CRAFT CORNER
Name Cloud
Our craft of the day focused on a little name recognition and cutting practice. While I cut out a cloud shape and 4 raindrops, Lane used his safety scissors to snip away at a piece of construction paper. Any tips on how to teach a child to use scissors with one hand are appreciated!
Supplies Needed
- blue construction paper
- white construction paper
- scissors
- glue
- marker
As I mentioned, I cut out a cloud shape from white construction paper, and then 4 raindrops out of blue paper. One for each letter of my son’s name. I wrote down 1 letter on each raindrop and reviewed the spelling with him, familiarizing him with the letters of his name. Then I asked him to glue the raindrops to the cloud, hes much better with a glue stick than he is with a pair of scissors.
Ember + Pine 