Explore the weather

• Weather song

Sing the weather song.

• Weather pictures

​​​​​​​Draw a picture of the weather.

Ask your child to say what the weather is and encourage them to label their drawing (this may look like scribble or repeated letters but this is the first step to writing).

​​​​​​​

• Weather chart

Here is a video to help the children learn about different types of weather and how to keep track of your weather observations.

Your child might create a chart like the one in the video.

They might also enjoy making and using other weather charts...

How has the weather changed over the week?  

This is a great opportunity to practise saying the days of the week (and time words such as yesterday, today and before). Why not sing along to the days of the week song.

Recycling/ Exploring Materials

Provide your child with a selection of packaging. They might...
 

Sort the recycling.

Identify plastic, paper, card, metal, and fabric. 

Pretend to move recycling (e.g shreds of paper) with toy trucks. 

Want to take it further? There are some lovely ideas for turning recycling into craft here. 

Create your own rain cloud

Use a plastic container with a lid (e.g. a water bottle) and make small holes on one side. You could stick on cotton wool to decorate. Fill the container with water and watch as the water drips out. 

Want to take it further? Try this cloud in a jar experiment

.

Sort clothes by weather / clothes shop role play

Provide your child with clothes that they can sort.  Can they sort the clothes for different weathers? They could even draw the weathers. See Miss Benton’s video. You could extend this to them role playing clothes shops.

Explore weather sounds

• Listen to weather sounds
  Listen out for different weather sounds. Can your child identify them?

If it's a quite week weather wise, these recordings might come in handy: https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/eyfs-listening-skills-weather/zvrcf4j

• Make weather sounds (rainmaker)

Provide your child with either a plastic container, bottle or other junk modelling item. Pour in a spoon or two of rice or lentils and secure with a bottle lid or sellotape. Decorate with stickers, glitter and sequins if you have them available. Have fun exploring making rain sounds. 

​​​​​​Exploring ice 

Sensory play with ice
Watch ‘Frozen- In Summe​r’. Discuss with your child what they think will happen to​ Olaf when it gets warm. Support your child to fill up ice cube trays or plastic containers, if ice cube trays are not available, and freeze. Once frozen, take them out and explore how quickly they melt.

​​​​​

Your child might also like exploring items (such as toys and flowers) frozen in ice...

We find that the children will spend a long time working out how to get frozen items out of ice. It's lovely to watch their concentration and problem solving.

There are some lovely ideas for sensory play with frozen flowers here.

Your child might also like exploring ice and paint.

Click here for 'how to paint with ice'.

• The Arctic

Search on Google Maps for the UK. Discuss with your child the colour of the land and sea. Scroll up to look at the Arctic. Discuss why the land looks different in the Arctic, because the land is covered in snow and ice. Discuss the differences in temperature in the UK and the Arctic.

• Igloos

Look at a picture of an igloo on google.Fill an ice cube tray with water and when frozen take out and support your child to create their own igloo out of the ice cubes. ​​​​​​​

Why don’t you have a go at making your own rain shaker.

click on the link below and watch the How to video.

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/146507794116266135/

Now you know how to do it, give it a go.

I can’t wait to see your rain shakers.