Weather School / First Weather · ages 2 to 5

The weather rock under a flat grey overcast sky.

Cloudy Days

Can a cloud change shape while you watch it?

The weather rock outside under a part cloudy sky, waiting to be looked at.

The mission: guess first, then go look

Pick one cloud and guess what it will look like after a minute: bigger, thinner, or a whole new animal.

Now watch that one cloud for a whole minute. Did it do what you guessed? Clouds are always being built and unbuilt. The sky just does not announce it.

A cloud slides in front of the sun and the light goes soft and grey.

Clouds look like they are made of cotton, but they are made of water.

The drops are so small and so light that the air holds them up.

Professor Weather Rock in a graduation cap, pointing upward with a wooden pointer.

Professor Weather Rock says

A big fluffy cloud can weigh as much as a hundred elephants, and it still floats. The drops are just that small.

Rocktivity Time!

Pick a door. Every door is a good one.

Move like the weather

Be a cloud. Float around the room slow and soft, arms loose, going wherever the wind decides. Now be a grey heavy rain cloud: sag your shoulders, droop your arms, ready to pour.

Ask them

“What does that cloud look like to you?”

The Rocktivity

Lie on your back outside and name the shapes you see. Nobody has ever been wrong at this game.

When the sky is full of clouds, try this

Lie on your backs and each pick one cloud. Guess whose cloud will fall apart first, then watch and find out. Nobody has ever been wrong at naming cloud shapes, and nobody wins the falling-apart game twice in a row.

Is the rock right?

You looked with your own eyes. The rock is outside looking too. Ask it what it sees, then decide together who read the sky better.

Words we learned

Cloudnounsay it: KLOWDLots and lots of tiny water drops, floating together.

Greyadjectivesay it: GRAYThe soft colour the day turns when a cloud covers the sun.

For the grown-up

Cloud shapes are a free hour of language practice: describing, comparing, and disagreeing pleasantly about whether it is a dog.

Take it off the screen

A colouring sheet with the big word to trace, plus the whole lesson in print. Free for any home or classroom.

Print the colouring sheet and lesson (PDF)

The trail continues

Next time the clouds turn dark grey and hang down low, make a guess out loud: is rain coming? Then wait and see if the sky agrees with you.

When the first drops land, Rainy Days is ready for you.