40 + Weather Activities For Sunshine Solutions and Rainy Day Remedies

Wouldn’t you agree that preschool is a wonderful stage to teach young children about weather and climate? 🌧️Introducing them to the weather at such an early stage helps make them better equipped to understand the seasonal changes in their surroundings.🌥️ 

While these activities will not get into the depth of weather, climate, and seasonal changes, I can assure you that your children will learn new words and have a basic understanding of different weather phenomena towards the end of these activities. 

Fun Weather Activities for Kids 

Many of the activities listed in the following section 👇 are activities that I have conducted with my children, and from my experience, I can tell you that these activities were both fun and educational. 🧒 

They allowed my kids to be creative and artistic whilst still learning about different shapes, colors, words, and meanings. I hope these activities are just as informative and stimulating for your children. 

Name the Weather 

For this very simple activity, you’ll require pictographs of different weathers and their identifiable qualities. 🏫 

This is a great introductory activity as it familiarises the preschooler with new words associated with weather and the meanings attached to them, along with factors that help us identify different weather phenomenons. 🌦️ 

For instance, when it rains, the sky becomes grey, and the clouds are dark. It is so fun to hear my young daughter describe stuff as she discovers new phenomena and words. 

Ask the Preschoolers about their Favourite Type of Weather 

Ask your preschooler about their favorite type of weather, what they like to do during that type of weather, what type of clothes they wear on those days, and what time of the year their favorite type of weather happens.👖 

This activity will help them learn about the type of clothes that correspond to different weathers along with the time of year when it happens. This activity was honestly one of my favorites because my preschooler certainly made some interesting fashion choices 😂. 

Pro Tip:

Do not let your child walk out of the house with the clothes they chose. My preschooler was determined that the perfect summer attire included three hats, a backward shirt, and pajama bottoms. 

What Is the Weather Like? 

Provide your preschooler with a variety of arts and crafts materials and tell them to create a picture that depicts the weather out the window. 🎨

I assigned this activity to my son and was really thrilled with the results. His perspective and interpretation of his surroundings were fun to observe. 

Pro Tip:

You can also challenge your preschooler to draw or create artwork of different types of weather 🖼️ to see their interpretation of different weather phenomena once they are familiar with them. 

Weather Sensory Bin 

A sensory bin is a shallow container that provides children with a much-needed opportunity to engage their senses using hands-on tactile play. 

What to do:

To create a weather sensory bin, pick a specific weather, and then help them assemble different objects from around your house to depict that weather. ⛈️ 

I am not gonna lie; I enjoyed this project more than my preschooler did 😂only because I love an art project that requires you to be resourceful. If you are like me, then you’ll probably enjoy doing this exercise with your kids just as much as I did. 

Pro Tip:

To create a sensory bin that resembles a rainy day, you can place a grey towel or rug as a base, cotton balls can be used for clouds, and rice can be used for rain. 

Rain in a Jar 

Rain in a jar is a simple activity for preschoolers that takes common materials and only needs 5 minutes to assemble. 

What you need: All you need is a clear jug, blue food coloring, water, and shaving cream🪒. 

Steps:

• Fill 2/3rd of the clear jug with water and place a layer of shaving cream on top. 🫙
• While the shaving cream is meant to represent clouds, the clear water represents the atmosphere.  
• The blue food coloring slowly dripping down the shaving cream and hitting the water represents rain. 

Pro Tip:

As my child and I conducted this experiment, I talked to him about how when it’s warm, water becomes vapor and starts to evaporate, after which it accumulates in the clouds, and when the clouds become full of water, they burst, and that is how it rains. You can do the same and explain the water cycle to your child.  

Cloud Writing 

Albeit being a little messy, this is one activity that my kids enjoyed. It involves filling a sheet tray with shaving cream or whipped cream and then asking the preschoolers to write letters, numbers, words, or shapes. 🔡 

This engaging activity will make handwriting and vocabulary lessons exponentially more fun for the children. My son had a lot of fun with this activity, and my daughter, who is too little to spell, had fun just playing with the whipped cream. 

Pro Tip:

Although you can do this exercise with shaving cream, I recommend using whipped cream if your kids are curious and like to taste new things. 

Wind Art 

While conducting this activity, talk to the preschooler about real-world examples of wind blowing. For instance, the swaying of trees.

What you need: This craft involves paper, straw, and some paint. 

Steps

• Ask the preschooler to squeeze a significant amount of paint in the middle of the sheet; they can squeeze different colors of paint. 🎐
• Then, give them a straw and tell them to blow on the sheet while aiming at the pile of paint. 

Even my daughter enjoyed doing this artwork and was running up a storm. 

Pro Tip:

I also recommend using paints that are safe for kids to use and possibly non-toxic because even if there is an accident, you won’t have to worry too much. 

Frost Art 

I love this activity!

What you need: This weather-related activity involves- a paintbrush, food coloring, Epsom salt, water, and either cardboard or heavy-duty paper. 

Steps:

• In a container, mix equal parts of water and Epsom salt for the preschooler. ❄️ Mix until dissolved and divide the solution into three different cups. 
• In each cup, add drops of different food colors. 
• Now, ask the preschooler to paint with these colors. 
• As this solution dries, it will crystalize and look like frost. 

Pro Tip:

While doing this experiment, I thought it was necessary to educate my child on why snow falls in the first place. I did so by explaining how our freezer makes the liquid water turn into solid ice because of its lower temperature. 

Similarly, for snow to fall, the temperature needs to be super low for the evaporated water to crystalize. You should do the same as well. 

Rain Art 

I have noticed that my son is a big fan of activities that require some clean-up afterward. So, he definitely enjoyed this one. And although my daughter couldn’t join in this activity because she was too young, she definitely enjoyed seeing the paint colors falling on the paper sheet. 

What you need:

This weather-related activity involves- a tray of watercolors, paper, water, a dropper, a towel, tape, and a vertical surface, like an easel or a chalkboard. 🎨

Steps:

• The first step is to take the tape and stick the paper and tray of watercolor to the vertical surface. 
• Invite the preschoolers and ask them to use a dropper filled with water on the watercolor tray. 

Pro Tip:

As the paint starts to drip onto the sheet, talk to your preschooler about how rain falls to the ground. I used this opportunity to explain gravity and the environmental conditions required for it to rain. 

Build a Rain Gauge 

To build a rain gauge, stick a ruler on a clear jar. Then ask your preschooler to pour water on and mark how much water fell on the bottom of the jar. 📏

Pro Tip:

As me and my son conducted this experiment, I told him about how meteorologists use a similar technique to gauge how much it has rained as well.

I also told him about the importance of measuring rain as it helps governments and scientists track rain trends, make predictions about how much rain can be expected the next year, and understand the rain’s impact on the environment. 

Create a Rain Station 

To set up a rain station, you’ll need two large clear containers and label them as ‘clouds’ and ‘rains’ respectively. 

• In the container marked cloud, put dry cotton balls and fill the other container with water.
• Now, invite the preschoolers to approach this setup one by one and make them soak the cotton balls in the water. 

Pro Tip:

As they pull the now-soaked cotton balls from the container, talk to them about how the clouds hold water until they reach the point of saturation, and then it rains. ☔

Wind Testing Centre 

Test how different materials react to wind as part of this activity. 

What you need: Assemble some ribbon 🎗️, yarn, leaves, paper, a towel 🧻, and yarn along with a portable fan. 

Steps:

• One by one, ask the kids to place one item in front of the fan. This was another one of my preschoolers’ favorite activities. 
• As we conducted this experiment, he became curious about the effects of wind on his favorite toys. 

Pro Tip:

You can also use this time to talk to your child about windmills and how many countries use wind farms to harvest electricity. 

Raindrop Artwork 

Raindrop Artwork is another messy but incredibly fun art project that involves the preschoolers drawing a picture and then using a dropper to add blue-colored water on top of the picture as if it were rain. 

Pro Tip:

Remember to place a plastic wrap or newspaper or any type of protective layer on the work surface before using the blue-colored water. 

My children are notoriously clumsy; they get that from me, and I feared that they would spill it instantly. So, I made them do this activity in the backyard. You can take the necessary precautions. 

Build a Rain Catcher 

This activity will help your preschooler explore some basic maths and science concepts. 

What you need: It involves building a rain catcher using a plastic bottle, tape, marker, paint, and scissors. 

Steps:

• Using a pair of scissors, cut the top of the bottle. 
• Ask your preschooler to paint the outside of the bottle with their favorite color. 
• Once the paint has dried, ask the preschooler to use a marker and ruler to measure the rain. 

Pro Tip:

When it rains, place the rain catcher in an open area. Just like in the ‘Rain Gauge’ activity, you can take this time to educate your child about why scientists, meteorologists, and even governments like to measure how much it has rained. 

Tornado in a Bottle 

If you experience tornadoes frequently, then your preschooler must wonder how they are created. This easy activity will provide them with explanations about tornadoes. 

What you need: All this activity requires is a clear plastic bottle and water. 

Steps:

• Fill the bottle with water, close the lid tightly, and then either spin or roll the bottle in a circular motion until you create a water vortex that looks like a mini tornado. 
• My preschooler loved playing around with the bottle and creating mini-tornados. Hope your kids will enjoy this activity, too. 

Pro Tip: While doing this, discuss the natural conditions for a tornado with your preschooler. 

Cotton Ball Artwork 

On a clear day, I love taking my kids to an open field for a picnic, and oftentimes, we spend hours lying on our backs and admiring the clouds. 

My son is fascinated by clouds. So, recently, I decided to do this activity with him. All it requires is- markers, scissors, kid-safe glue, grey paint, and cardboard paper. 

Pro Tip:

I didn’t know about the different types of clouds from memory. Therefore, I handed my child a few reference pictures. You can do the same. With the help of reference pictures, ask your child to recreate clouds using the cotton balls and label them along the way. 

Rain Cloud Suncatcher 

Rain Cloud Suncatcher is a fun art and craft exercise for preschoolers. 

What you need:

It involves cotton balls, empty milk cartons, hole punch, glue, scissors ✂️, fishing line, and permanent marker. 

Steps:

• Ask your preschooler to draw a large cloud on a piece of paper and then ask them to paste some cotton on it. 
• Leave aside to dry. 
• Now, draw raindrops on the milk carton and cut them using the scissors. 
• Using the markers 🖊️and hole punch, ask your preschooler to color the raindrops and punch a hole at the top of the raindrop, respectively. 
• Using the fishing line, secure the top of each raindrop. 
• Punch a few holes at the bottom of the cloud and attach the fishing line with raindrops to it. 

Sky Snack 

My kids love jello. So, I decided to make an edible arrangement that resembles the sky. All it required was blue jello, whipped cream, and any candy that resembled a rainbow. 🌈 

Make the jello in clear cups to represent a blue sky, place a dollop of whipped cream on top to represent clouds, and place a few rainbow-themed candies on top to represent rainbows, obviously.  

Make an Umbrella 

With the help of cardstock paper, a paper plate, a pair of scissors, a glue stick, crayons, markers, and paints, ask your preschooler to make an umbrella. 🏖️ 

The first step will involve cutting the paper plate in half and using the cardstock paper in the shape of a handle. Stick them together and then decorate using crayons, markers, and paints.  

Build a Solar Oven 

In summer, teach your kids about the sun ☀️, how it regulates the temperature of the world, and how when the heat from the sun is trapped, it can cook things with the help of a solar oven. 

What you need:

To build the solar oven, you’ll require a cardboard box (like a pizza 🍕 or a shoe box), black construction paper, foil, plastic wrap, hot glue, scissors ✂️, a ruler, and a marker, along with some marshmallows, crackers, and chocolate bars. 

Steps:

• The first step requires you to draw an even square on the lid of the box by leaving at least an inch off the side and then cutting the scare using a box cutter. 
• Remove the smaller square and cover it with foil. Use glue to secure the edges. Now, take the cardboard box and place the black construction paper at the bottom with glue. 
• Glue a piece of plastic wrap over the opening of the lid. Once done, it is time to make smores. 
• Place your assembled ingredients carefully in the bottom of the box. 
• Close the lid and balance the foil-wrapped cardboard on the top using a skewer. 
• Wait for 60 minutes or until the marshmallow and chocolate 🍫 have melted. 

Pro Tip:

Although this exercise is extremely time-consuming, the end product is very satisfying and is a great entry point to introduce the topic of solar energy to your kids, along with the methods to harness it. 

Windstock Observation Area 

A windstock is a conical tube made from synthetic fabric that is used as a guide to observe wind speed and direction. 🎏

You can place the windstock outside your window to allow the preschoolers to make wind observations regularly. 

Thunderstorm Art Project 

My children and I had so much fun doing this art project. This is a perfect activity for preschoolers as it is a fun way to explore colors, color mixing, and painting. 

What you need:

To do this project, you require a set of paint brushes, white paper, scissors, blue and yellow-colored construction paper, black and white paint, and liquid glue. 🌧️

Steps: 

• Make grey paint by mixing some black and white paint on a paper plate, then ask your preschooler to paint the white sheet grey. 
• Using the blue and yellow construction paper, cut blue raindrops and lightning bolts, respectively. 
• Now, paste these shapes onto the grey paper.  

Make a Wind Car 

My son absolutely loved playing with the wind cars we built together. He was also super proud of his creation and showed it around to everybody. 

What you need:

To make the wind car 🚔, you’ll require an 8*5 inch board, 5-inch long, strong straws, 8-inch long cake pop sticks, wooden wheels, stickers, and a large craft stick. 

Steps:

• Ask your preschooler to decorate the foam board as they wish. Help them tape two straws to both ends of the foam board. 
• Then, I slid the cake pop sticks through the straws and slid the wooden wheels on the cake sticks. 
• Using the play dough, secure the wheel to the stick. 
• The next step is to tape a medium-sized piece of paper on the pencil and attach it to the center of the car. 

Your car 🚔is ready to play with. Kids can enjoy playing with this car 🚔by blowing at the paper to move it. 

Cloud in a Jar 

To make a cloud in a jar, you’ll require a clear jar with a lid, a third of a cup of hot water, ice, and hairspray. ☁️ 

• Start by pouring all of the water into the jar and shaking the jar to warm up the sides of the jar.
• Now, take the lid and place it upside down on the top of the jar. Place ice on the lid and let the apparatus rest. 
• Quickly remove the lid, spray some hairspray into the jar, and place the lid back. 
• When a good amount of fog starts to appear, remove the lid and observe how the ‘clouds’ escape. 

Record Weather 

Provide your preschooler with a sheet, one side of which will denote different types of weather, and the other side will denote the days in the month. 

Ask your preschooler to observe the weather every day and mark the right box to denote the weather on that specific day. 

Pro Tip:

I also recommend creating a table denoting different weather conditions and asking your child to identify the weather daily and write under it the day of the week and date.

Making Man-made Rainbows

Rainbows are an incredibly unique weather phenomenon; however, they are seldom spotted in nature. But we can make our rainbows at home. While the science behind how a rainbow forms is too complex for preschoolers, we can still show them different ways to make them. 🌈

For instance, create a rainbow by using a small flashlight and a CD by shining the flashlight on the surface of the CD. 

Pro Tip: You can also use a prism and natural sunlight to make a rainbow on different surfaces. 

Snowflake Symmetry Artwork 

My kid really enjoyed this art project, which involved creating a symmetrical snowflake. 

What you need: All it requires is strips of paper, dot markers, and glue.❄️ 

Steps:

• Create the snowflakes by placing six strips in the shape of a star and then challenge the preschooler to create a design using dot markers that are exactly the same on each strip. 
• You can also take this time to tell your child that each snowflake is different.

Raindrop Letters 

If your child is at the letter recognition stage, then making them raindrop letters is an extremely cute way to teach them about lowercase and uppercase letters. 🔤 

Create raindrop letters of all letters, both in uppercase and lowercase, then ask your child to arrange the letters in alphabetical order and place the uppercase and lowercase letters together. 

Even though my daughter was too young to play this game, she was certainly interested and wanted to know what was happening. I didn’t correct her rearrangement but encouraged her to watch her brother do it properly. 

As most parents know, it is never too early to start teaching your child about the alphabet and numbers. 

Raindrop Sound Matching 

This activity will help your kid learn about uppercase and lowercase alphabets along with the sounds corresponding to the letters.

• On a large piece of paper, draw twenty-six raindrops and write the uppercase alphabet on it. 
• Then, take twenty-six marbles and write the alphabet in lowercase. 
• Now, ask your preschooler to place the marble in the corresponding letter after you call out the letter sounds. 🔤 

Weather Movement Game 

The weather movement game did a pretty good job of teaching my preschooler that when it is super sunny outside, you must stay indoors; when it is snowing, you make snow angels; and when it is spring, you spend as much time outdoors as possible. 

• This activity involves creating two cubes; one of the cubes will have six different types of weather, and the other cube will have movements that correspond with each weather. 
• For instance, if the weather depicted on one side of the cube is rainy, then the other cube should depict running because we tend to run inside when it starts to rain. 

Make a Sundial 

As you teach your preschoolers about weather and seasons, they’ll soon start to pick up on the concept of time.

With this interesting exercise, you can teach your children how ancient civilizations read time without a watch. 

What you need: To make a sundial, you’ll require a paper plate, pencil, and marker.

Steps:

• All you need to do is stick a pencil ✏️ in the center of the paper plate and put the plate in a bright, sunny spot. 
• Around noon, observe the shadow of the pencil on the plate, and using a marker, trace a line and write 12. 
• Check on your sundial at different intervals throughout the day and ask your preschooler to mark the placement of the pencil’s shadow. 

Plastic Bag Kites 

If you are like me and have a cabinet full of saved plastic bags, then here is a fun activity that you can partake in with your preschooler. Use a plastic bag and some embroidery floss to create a kite. 🪁 

Take the kite out on a windy day and fly it. My children were big fans of this experiment and ran around the front yard for a good 40 minutes. 

Pro Tip: You can also create kites 🪁out of recycled newspaper. 

Rain Stick Craft 

Rain sticks are instruments that mimic the sound of rainfall. 

What you need: To make a rain stick with your kids, you’ll require empty paper towel rolls, tin foil, duct tape, and a cup of rice. 

Steps:

• With the help of the duct tape, close one end of the paper towel roll. 
• Then, place a long, crumpled piece of tin foil inside the roll along with a cup of old rice. 
• Tape the other end of the roll as well.

Pro Tip:

Once the rain stick has been crafted, you can help your child decorate the exterior in a number of different ways, like wrapping yarn around it, pasting split peas or lentils on it, wrapping it in tin foil, or even wrapping it in gift paper.

My daughter loved this craft from start to finish, and she chose to wrap the yarn around her stick while my son wanted to paste pasta on it. 

Create a Water Cycle Model 

This is undoubtedly an amazing activity for me.

What you need: To make a water cycle model, you need a clear plastic bottle, a sharpie, water, and some paper. 

Steps: 

• Draw the sun, some clouds, land, and water around the bottle. 
• Then, pour a quarter of a cup of water into the bottle, close the lid of the bottle 🍶, and place it next to a window. 
• In the morning, you’ll start noticing vapor forming around the side of the bottle, then talk to your kid about evaporation. 

Pro Tip:

As it cools down and you notice water on the outside of the bottle, talk to your kids about condensation. 

Make a Windmill 

Building a windmill is another wind-related exercise. 

What you need: To build a windmill, you’ll require two small paper cups, bendable straws, tape, small coins, toothpicks, and scissors. 

Steps: 

• In the center of each cup 🥤, draw a dot and use the toothpick to poke a hole. 
• The hole must be large enough to place the straw through it. 
• Now, tape the four coins inside the cup with the straw. This adds weight to the cup. 
• Cut slits around the second cup that is a quarter of an inch apart. 
• Then, fold down each strip in the shape of a windmill. 
• The next step involves placing the toothpick inside the windmill cup and inserting it into the end of the bendable straw. 

Your windmill is ready. 

Pro Tip:

As you make a windmill with your child, I recommend that you talk about the windmill’s purpose and how it uses wind power to make energy. You can also teach them that windmills are traditionally used to mill grain. 

Snowball Counting Game 

This is an interactive game that not only stimulates the kids intellectually but also requires them to flex their fine motor skills. ⛄

What you need: For this game, you’ll require ten sheets of paper and cotton balls. 

Steps: 

• With a bold marker, write a different number boldly on each paper. 
• Ask your preschooler to use their hands or tweezers to place an equal number of cotton balls corresponding to the number on the sheet. 

Play Snow Recipe 

Playdough is a fun way for young children to practice their creativity and learn from their mistakes. This recipe will allow you to make play dough that resembles snow from the comfort of your home. 

What you need: All you’ll need is cornstarch, hand lotion, peppermint extract, a large bowl, and a mixing spoon. 

Steps:

• In the mixing bowl, add 2 cups of cornstarch, a cup of lotion, and two to three drops of peppermint extract. 
• As you start to mix, the elements will react to each other and form a substance that looks like snow. 
• Once the mixture is able to hold its shape, invite your preschooler to play with it. 
• Make sure that your child doesn’t consume this mixture, no matter how tempting it may look. 

Rain Number Recognition Game 

One more of my favorites! 

What you need: To play this game, you’ll require a sheet of paper, some marbles, and a dice. 

Steps:

• On the sheet of paper, draw six raindrops and write all of the digits from 1 to 6 in them. 
• Ask your preschooler to roll the dice and cover the number on the sheet using the marble that corresponds to the number on the dice. 

Evaporation Experiment 

Preschoolers are notoriously clumsy and are constantly spilling water. They are also at a stage where they wonder how water disappears after spilling. This exercise will certainly help them understand. 

What you need: All you need is some water, any food coloring, a coffee ☕filter, a metal strainer, a pan, and a stove. 

Steps:

• In a cup, mix water and a few drops of food coloring. 
• Pour the water into a pan and place the strainer on top of the pan with a coffee filter inside. 
• Let the water come to a boil on medium heat🔥. 
• As the water boils, the preschoolers will notice the coffee filter change in color. 

Pro Tip:

During the experiment, explain to your children the three states of water- liquid, gas, and solid 🧊and how temperature contributes to it. 

Make a Homemade Thermometer 

As you introduce your preschoolers to weather and weather-related activity, they will learn about a thermometer 🌡️. 

What you need: A mason jar with a straw lid, rubbing alcohol, red food coloring, cooking oil, clear straw, playdough, and water. 

Steps: 

• Into a mason jar, mix a quarter cup of water and alcohol along with a tablespoon of oil and red food coloring.
• Tighten the lid of the jar and place a straw through the straw hole. 
• The next step will involve holding the straw half an inch from the bottom of the jar and securing it with a piece of play dough on the lid around the straw. 
• Now experiment with the thermometer 🌡️ by placing it in extremely cold and hot surroundings to study how high the liquid rises in the straw in different temperature conditions. 

This experiment was fun to do, but I noticed the concept being too hard for my preschooler to grasp. It did, however, give me an opportunity to explain to my son how temperature is measured. 

Pro Tip: Make sure not to let your child drink this liquid. 

Conclusion 

As a mom, I have learned that nothing brings me more pleasure in life than seeing my kids 🧒enjoy themselves while partaking in activities that are fun, stimulating, informative, and engaging for them. Preschoolers absorb knowledge like a sponge, and it is our job as parents 👪to educate them and nurture their curiosity and creativity.  

Leave a comment below on your favorite weather-related activities.