As it starts turning from winter snow to spring showers, it is the perfect time to teach students about weather. Brainstorm with students the questions they have about weather and weather patterns before selecting an activity. You may find that they are super curious about a topic you might have already dismissed! Capitalize on their curiosity to turn this fun STEM lesson into one that they will never forget. Try one of the five activities below to get you started!
Weather Activities for Kids
1. Invite a local meteorologist to visit.
Contact your local radio or television station to see if one of their meteorologists would come to talk with your class. If there is a university close to your school, you can also reach out to them to arrange a class visit. Have students prepare questions ahead of time, so that they don’t forget them!
2. Meteorologist For the Day.
Assign each student a day to be the meteorologist during your morning meeting time. Ask them to prepare by looking at the weather forecast in the local paper, watching the forecast on television, or listening to it on the radio on the way to school. Once you’re ready, ask the meteorologist of the day to share what the day is supposed to be like.
3. Make Rain Clouds and Tornadoes.
Hands-on science experiments offer the most memorable teaching moments. Make tornadoes in jars and rain clouds from shaving cream. Find out how here.
4. Create Cloud People Puppets.
Have students cut out and write about the different types of clouds to present in a short puppet show with 2 partners.
5. Track the Weather for a Week (or two!) Using a Weather Chart.
Track the weather during morning meeting and then use the data at the end of the tracking period to create different types of graphs in math class.
What are some of your favorite ways to teach students about the weather? Share with us!