Whether you’re teaching kids in the classroom or at home, the weather is a daily occurrence that can be integrated into your lesson plans regardless of the subject! Let’s bring on some sunshine and smiles with these weather-themed activities.
1. Fractions in a Snowflake
For this activity, have your littles bring some scissors and colored paper to class and get creative! Have your students cut out different-sized circles—one large one and many smaller ones. Then, they can cut their smaller circles in half or in quarters to make fractions! Afterward, they can use these pieces to glue together a snowflake that’s 100% unique—just like them.
Learn More: 123 Homeschool 4 Me
2. Painting With Rain
The key to this cute weather craft is bleeding tissue paper and the magic of a rainy day. Give each of your students a piece of construction paper, colored pencils, and different colored tissue paper. Then, have them draw any design they want (sunsets and skies are always fun) and then surround or cover it with the tissue paper. Once they finish, bring all the papers outside and let the rain fall on them—causing the colored tissue paper to bleed onto the background. The next day, collect them and see the beautiful color mixing that has brought about stunning works of art!
Learn More: 123 Homeschool 4 Me
3. Cotton Ball Clouds
Bring a bunch of cotton balls or cotton wool to school to help your kiddos classify the different types of clouds! Start by helping your students learn the names of different kinds of clouds and what they look like. Then, let them form appropriate shapes out of cotton balls and glue them onto a blue sky poster board above the correct name. A hands-on activity that’s sure to be memorable!
Learn More: Living Life and Learning
4. “How’s the Weather Today” Song
This video provides a great start to any lesson and can easily be repeated for extra practice or incorporated into your daily warm-up routine. Play the video and work with your students to make up a simple dance to pair with the different weather words.
Learn More: YouTube
5. Rainbow Reflections
Rainbows seem like magic, but they’re really a reaction of air and water refracting and dispersing light. Get a prism (or a large glass with water and place a mirror inside), and invite your students to create rainbows on your classroom walls!
Learn More: Rookie Parenting
6. Handprints on the Sun
Here’s a “hands-on” craft that’s sure to bring some sunshine to your classroom. Have your students trace and cut out their handprints, then glue or staple the cutouts to paper plates to create beautiful suns. Lastly, task your students with using bright yellow paint to bring their creations to life!
Learn More: No Time for Flash Cards
7. Wind Pinwheels
This activity is a bit more artistically challenging, so it’s best suited to older students or an art class. Simply follow the step-by-step instructions to create pinwheels with your class. Once made, they can take their creations outside and measure wind speed by seeing how fast their pinwheels spin. No wind today? They can always use fans and their imaginations instead!
Learn More: One Little Project
8. Pine Cone Predictions
Invite your learners to check the weather forecast by placing pine cones on your classroom windowsill. At the start of each class, prompt your kiddos to analyze the pine cones to see if they’re open or closed. If they’re open it means that the day will be a dry one; if they’re closed it means it might rain soon!
Learn More: Science Sparks
9. Lightning Strikes
Help your students create mini lightning bolts in class with static electricity using plates, pie tins, pencils, and thumbtacks. Simply follow the step-by-step instructions below to create the perfect lightning storm and watch your students’ eyes light up with each flash!
Learn More: UCAR Center for Science Education
10. Predicting Thunder
This activity is great for stormy days at school or at home when lightning is visible and you can hear thunder. Have your students use a timer to track how many seconds pass between when they see lightning and when they hear thunder. This is a great way to explain how light and sound travel at different speeds and actively enjoy a good thunderstorm!
Learn More: Weather Wiz Kids
11. Fog It Up
Fog is a mix of cold air and warm water making tiny drops of water close to the Earth—and it’s easy to make in your classroom! Your kids will need large jars, strainers, some ice cubes, and water. As your students put the ice cubes over the warm water they’ll see fog forming on top of the water!
Learn More: Discovery Express Kids
12. Sun-Sensitive Art
Here’s a new way for your artists to create—while learning about the effects of the sun. Ask your students to bring leaves or flowers to class, or go for a walk together to collect some nearby. Then, have your artistic inquirers arrange their objects on sun-sensitive paper however they’d like. Leave their papers in the sun for two to four minutes and then put them in water for one minute. Let them dry to reveal sun-bleached outlines on the paper around the natural items!
Learn More: Run Wild My Child
13. Measure the Pressure
Help your students understand air pressure—with just a coffee can, a latex balloon, and a few small tools! Your kids can make their very own DIY barometers to measure the air pressure. As the air pressure in your classroom changes, the balloon will expand or contract and move the straw—ultimately affecting the reading. Have your learners take five or six readings a day for a week and then report their results to their classmates.
Learn More: All Science Fair Projects
14. Tornado Time
This simple science experiment will give your kids a firsthand view of extreme weather—in the comfort and safety of your very own classroom! Use jars of cold water and a few household ingredients to let your students swirl up their very own mini tornados.
Learn More: Playdough to Plato
15. Magical Snow
Now your students can play in the snow all year round! All you need is frozen baking soda and cold water, but you can let your kids get creative with glitter or food coloring to make their own mark on it. Mix the ingredients together and invite your little ones to mold and play with the mixture as they please!
Learn More: Growing a Jeweled Rose
16. Homemade Rain Gauge
A big plastic bottle, a ruler, and some rocks are all your kids need to DIY a rain gauge. Just a few easy steps and their gauge will be ready for the next big storm!
Learn More: News24
17. Weather Journal
Help your kids make their very own weather journals! Have them use folded construction paper to make book covers before filling them with notebook pages. Encourage your students to decorate their journal covers by creating a weather collage. Your kids can then use their notebooks to record the weather at the beginning of class each day and watch for patterns in their observations.
Learn More: The Curriculum Corner
18. Cloud in a Jar
Help your students recreate this fun science experiment using shaving cream and food coloring to make clouds! The blue food coloring added to the shaving cream will make it look like their little clouds are raining.
Learn More: Fun Learning for Kids
19. Lightning in Your Mouth
This is a fun one to do with your kids—and bonus, it involves candy! Pick up some Mint Lifesavers and make your classroom dark. Then, give a piece of candy and a mirror to each of your students. As they chew the candy they can use the mirror to see how the sugar reacts to the friction of chewing—it should create sparks of light that look like lightning bolts in their mouths!
Learn More: Weather Wiz Kids
20. Wacky Wild Windsocks
Take your class outside and measure the wind speed with materials they probably have in their recycling bins. Help your students make windsocks with plastic bags and bottles and then provide glitter, ribbons, and other art supplies, and let them decorate to their hearts’ content. Once they’re all ready, show your kids how to use their brand-new windsocks to measure the wind direction and speed.
Learn More: PBS Kids
21. Water Cycle Baggie
For this simple weather activity, bring in some small zip-up bags, blue food coloring, and a black permanent marker. Have your students draw cloud patterns toward the tops of their bags. Then, fill the bags a quarter full of water and add blue dye. Next, tape the bags on your classroom windows. Your kids will love watching as the level of water changes as it evaporates and condenses with the weather changes—an awesome working model of the water cycle right in your classroom!
Learn More: Playdough to Plato
22. Magical Homemade Snowflakes
This awesome weather activity brings to life snowflakes that are as unique as the ones falling from winter clouds. Grab some pipe cleaners and help your students cut and twist them into star-like shapes. Hang the shapes in a jar filled with water, Borax, and food coloring. As the water cools, crystals will form on the pipe cleaners—leaving your kids with beautiful, homemade snowflakes!
Learn More: Martha Stewart
23. Reading Time
There are hundreds of books out there to help you teach your kids about different kinds of weather. Here is a fantastic list of some books that you can find and bring to your class for some weather-related read-along.
Learn More: Amazon
24. Cloud Gazing
Take a break in class and ask your students to sit by the window and describe what they see in the sky. They can build stories together or simply sketch what they see in their weather journals. This is a short, fun weather activity that will undoubtedly reset your kids’ attention and allow them to connect with nature in the middle of their school day.
Learn More: Outdoor Classroom Day
25. Predict the Weather
Here’s a good weather-related discussion starter for your kids. Hang a daily weather chart in your class and ask your students to make weather predictions for the day or week.
Learn More: ESL Kids Games
26. “When it’s ______ I like to ______”
Get those little minds working with a simple, weather-related sentence prompter. Ask your students to think about what activities they like to do in different types of weather (snowing, hot, raining, etc.) or how to describe different types of weather. They can share their answers with the class or write them in their weather journals; either way, this is an easy, no-prep way to get them thinking about the weather!
Learn More: Journal Buddies
27. Weather Dress-Up
Dress-up play is a great way for your preschoolers to learn about the weather and how to dress—while also building their motor skills. Get clothes from the lost-and-found bin, or request donations from families, to set up a little wardrobe in the class for your students to choose from. Describe a certain type of weather and see what your students try on!
Learn More: Pre-K Pages
28. Snowman Building Contest
Unearth the winter coats and scarves; it’s time for an arctic masterpiece showdown! By stacking snowballs and adorning them with accessories, your students will be crafting frozen friends with flair. Incorporating categories like “Tallest Snowman” and “Best Dressed” will make this activity an icy spectacle for all. Snow way they’ll want to miss this!
Learn More: Bright on Today
29. Snowflake Catchers
Get ready to catch winter’s unique works of art! Help your students use black construction paper and magnifying glasses to nab one-of-a-kind snowflakes. Welcome to the ultimate frozen scavenger hunt!
Learn More: Lemon Lime Adventures
30. Snow Painting
Art class just got a winter makeover! Equip your students with spray bottles filled with food coloring and turn freshly fallen snow into a vibrant canvas. The fleeting nature of their frosty masterpieces will make each brushstroke even more special. After all, who said snowmen should have all the fun?
Learn More: Busy Toddler
31. DIY Wind Chimes
Let your students turn up the volume on a natural serenade! Invite them to use spoons, keys, and seashells to fashion wind chimes that bring music to the air. As they tinker with designs and materials, they’re not just making noise; they’re discovering the subtle harmonies of the wind.
Learn More: Crafts by Courtney
32. Frost Art
On days when frost adorns your classroom windows, arm your students with spray bottles of warm water and let them spray away to reveal ethereal works of art. As the sun rises, their transient creations will melt away, leaving only memories and a new appreciation for winter’s charm. Follow this fun activity up with an informative video of where frost comes from.
Learn More: YouTube
33. Water Cycle Diorama
Get out the glue and the glitter; it’s time to bring the water cycle down to earth! Help your students build mini ecosystems to visualize (and better understand) the water cycle. These bite-sized biomes will help make science tangible by turning a complex process into something playful and fun.
Learn More: YouTube
34. Weather Charades
This game of weather charades perfectly combines creative performance with science in a way that’s hilarious to watch and educational to play. Prepare your students for a thespian challenge that’s sure to get them on their feet! The rules are simple: they’ll need to act out different weather conditions without uttering a word.
Learn More: YouTube
35. Make a Hurricane
Step right up, future meteorologists! With a large bowl of water and a spoon, your students can create their own mini hurricanes. This hands-on activity allows them to understand the dynamics of one of nature’s most intense phenomena. In your classroom, storm-watching is bound to take on a whole new meaning.
Learn More: Gift of Curiosity
36. Make a Weather Kite
Work with your students to craft kites of different shapes and sizes—then launch your learners into an exploration of aerodynamics! When the crafting is complete, the real fun begins; it’s time to go fly a kite! Each test flight will serve as a real-world lesson in how wind and design interact.
Learn More: Little Bins for Little Hands
37. Thunderstorm Art Project
Cue the lightning and the thunder! Hand out brushes and dark-hued paint—and let your little artists capture the drama of a thunderstorm on canvas. It’s art with a dash of meteorology, where each stroke mimics the unpredictable nature of storms.
Learn More: Buggy and Buddy
38. Weather Flashcards
Spelling bee champs—your moment is here! With custom-made flashcards, your students will dive into the vocabulary of meteorology.
Learn More: Games 4 ESL
39. Weather Scavenger Hunt
Adventure seekers, get your outdoor gear ready! Supply your students with checklists of weather phenomena to observe and document. Happy hunting!
Learn More: Affordable Homeschooling
40. Parachute Wind Resistance
Are you ready for some aerodynamic action? By crafting parachutes from light materials, your students will get to study wind resistance first-hand. As each parachute descends gracefully, one thing is clear: this isn’t just playtime—it’s Physics 101.
Learn More: Twinkl
41. Sun Catchers
Bring a splash of color to your classroom with this next craft! Guide your students in creating sun catchers that dance with the daylight and cast vibrant hues on the walls. Get those scissors ready for an art project that’s also a lesson in how light interacts with different materials.
Learn More: YouTube
42. Ice Melting Experiment
Calling all thermodynamicists in the making! Using ice cubes and varying conditions, help your students discover what factors influence the speed of melting. This hands-on activity will help your little scientists uncover the secrets of matter itself!
Learn More: Frugal Fun 4 Boys
43. Weather Mobiles
Looking for some new classroom decor? Have your students create weather mobiles and turn your boring classroom ceiling into a sky filled with clouds, suns, and rainbows. Each mobile will quickly become a dangling, educational reminder of the world outside.
Learn More: Buggy and Buddy
44. Weather Words Spelling Game
Literary minds, get ready to spell your way through meteorology! This easy, no-mess activity invites your students to take turns spelling out weather terms—each more challenging than the last. What a great way to polish their vocabulary while injecting fun into learning. Who said science and language can’t mix?
Learn More: Homeschool Share
45. Umbrella Design Challenge
Rainy days don’t stand a chance against your students’ ingenuity! Challenge your budding inventors to create their own umbrellas using anything from cupcake holders and sponges to popsicle sticks and straws. Once complete, they can put their designs to the test by positioning a miniature toy underneath before drenching the umbrellas with a flow of water.
Learn More: Raising Lifelong Learners
46. DIY Ice Ornaments
Glide into your very own glacial art gallery! Help your students craft beautiful ice ornaments— by letting nature be their medium and muse. Each frozen bauble will be a tangible (but temporary) ode to winter’s charms and your aspiring artists’ creativity.
Learn More: NY Times
47. Evaporation Art
This easy craft will let your students experiment with the art of evaporation. Have your little Picassos trace around small puddles on their papers several times throughout the day—they’ll be observing the rate of evaporation while creating a colorful, abstract masterpiece. A final wash of watercolor paint will bring their creation to life and give them each a tangible reminder of your lesson.
Learn More: Innovation Kids Lab
48. Create a Tornado Shelter
Emergency preparedness, engage! Guide your students in constructing a mock tornado shelter. Talk about what items should be inside—helping them to choose based on each item’s real-world relevance. This exercise is part make-believe, part engineering, and part authentic drill for when nature’s fury strikes.
Learn More: Life Secure Emergency Solutions
144 Fun History Facts For Kids