Weather Week Part 2

Science: Making Rain

Instructions:

1. Pour approximately 3 inches of boiling water into a glass jar (I used a tall vase from the Dollar Store)
2. Cover the jar with a plate and wait 5 minutes
3. Put 3 ice cubes on the plate

Explanation:

The cold plate causes moisture in the warm air (caused by the boiling water in the jar).  The moisture condenses and forms water droplets.  You can compare this to what happens outside when it rains.  Warm, moist air rises and meets the colder air high in the atmosphere.  The water vapor condenses and forms precipitation that falls to the ground in the form of rain.

Sensory: We made a "Snowy Day" scene using a couple bags of cotton balls (Dollar Store) and some "snowy" animals that were a part of our collection downstairs.  On the second day of play (when I took this picture), I threw in some corks to add to the imagination in their play.  My kids imagination turned them into trees.  What will your child come up with?

Math: Rain Drop Matching Game

I made 48 raindrops and put shapes and colours on all of them.  While the children sat on their chairs, we all sang "Rain Rain Go Away" and I dropped the raindrops randomly all over the floor.  Once they were all dropped, the children raced to find all of the pairs they could.  This game can be competitive (see who finds the most pairs) or cooperative (work together to beat a specific time).

Science: Learning About a Thermometer

We watched a quick video on YouTube about thermometers and then used this printable.  We worked together to write on the numbers, then we checked our forecast for the day and the weekend.  We were on the way towards a major warm-up, so they were able to see a huge difference in temperature, which was great!  I then used the black crayon to show them what a 'summer' temperature would look like on a thermometer.

Science: What Does the Wind Blow Experiment

I created a simple table with a YES and NO column and then collected 8 random toys.  I blew each of the toys and the kids took turns filling in the table.

Art: Cloud Painting

This was my favourite activity of the week because of an event that came out of it.  I knew in advance that we didn't have Grey paint, but we would mix it.  I took out each of the paints, looking for grey and then made the sad announcement that this activity wouldn't work because there was no Grey.  My daughter (6) was quite sad and suggested we painted white clouds instead.  My son (3) looked at both of us and said in a very empathetic voice "It's OK mommy and sister!  Let's just mix the black and white and make grey on our own!"  So I went along with it and he was very excited (and his sister very proud) when it worked out!