April Showers, Rain and Rainbows

07-25-2006, 12:18 PM

April showers and rain preschool lesson plans. Arts and crafts, games, math, science, group time activities, songs and snack ideas.

Theme Books From Amazon.com

Everything for Spring : A Complete Activity Book for Teachers of Young Children : Activities for March, April, and May
Spring : Creative Activities for Young Children
Busy Bees Spring : Fun for Two's and Three's

Books to Read From Amazon.com[list][*]Rain

Art:

Kool Aid Art
Sprinkle a little dry Kool aid mix onto a piece of paper. Have your child spray water from a spray bottle onto the paper. Use different colored Kool-aid mix. For added adventure, you may choose to take your children out into the rain with a piece of paper that has Kool-aid on it.

Umbrella Art
Cut out an umbrella shape and have your child decorate it with paint, glitter, fabric, crayons, or whatever you can come up with.

Cotton Ball Clouds
Make gray cloud shapes from construction paper. Have the children glue on cotton balls.

Rain and Rainbow Collage
Look in a magazine or newspaper for pictures of rain, or rainbows, cut them out, and let your child glue them onto a piece of paper for a collage.

Torn Paper Rainbows
Apply glue onto a piece of paper where the first color of the rainbow should be, you can make a half or full arc. Have your child apply red torn paper to the glued area. Next apply glue under the red torn paper for the next color, and so on!! (you will only be able to do three or four colors)

Spray Art
Fill a spray bottle 3/4 full with water. Place a small amount of paint (powdered or liquid) into the water. If you use too much or do not shake well the paint will clog up the spray bottle. Do this for at least three different bottles, with three different colors. Then place a large piece of paper on the floor, on an easel, on a wall or fence outside. Then have the children spray the colored water on the paper. Allow to dry.

Kite Art
Supply the children with paper, glue and ribbon. Have the children cut and glue pieces of paper together and add ribbon to make a kite. This kite can be a very open ended art project, by not requiring the kite to be a specific shape, the children are free to make the kite however they wish. Have the children add a ribbon tail and hang the kites from the ceiling.
Paint with Clouds
Supply each child with a piece of blue paper, a cotton ball and white paint. Have the child dip the cotton ball into the white paint and press onto the paper to make cloud prints.

Paint with a Cloud 2
Supply the children with a piece of white paper an many cotton balls and many different colors of paint, and have them paint with the cotton ball on the paper.

Blue Shaving Cream Art
Add a few drops of blue paint to shaving cream. Have the children use this to paint with. Not mixing the paint in will give it a special look.

Raindrop Hats
Make hats from newsprint and have the child decorate with blue paint or rain and rainbow stickers.

Raindrop People
Give the children a piece of white paper, and a blue raindrop shape. Have the children glue the raindrop onto the paper, and then draw a body as if the raindrop was a head.

Torn Paper Raindrops
Draw a raindrop shape on a piece of paper. Have the children tear pieces of blue construction paper, and glue them inside the lines for the raindrop shape.

Raindrop Necklaces
Supply the children with raindrop shaped stencil. Have the children cut out raindrop shapes from construction paper. Then, have the child use a hole punch to make a hole, so they can thread them onto a piece of yarn.

Sponge Art
Supply the children with spring sponges and paint and have them make a spring scene with them.

Spring Cookie Cutter Art:
Obtain a cookie cutter that is shaped like a raindrop. Have the children dip the cookie cutter in a shallow container of blue paint, then press onto a piece of paper to make raindrop prints.

Raindrop Rubbings
Cut raindrop shapes from paper doilies or sandpaper. Tape these raindrops to the table. Have the children place a piece of thin white paper over the raindrops and rub a crayon over the raindrop.

Sticker Art
Supply the children with raindrop and rainbow stickers and have them place them on a piece of white paper.

Stamp Art
Supply the children with raindrop and rainbow stamps and have them make a spring scene with the stamps.

Raindrop Headbands
Measure your child's head, and cut a piece of construction paper long enough to create a headband. Glue the paper together so the headband fits snugly on your child's head but is loose enough to take off easily. Have the children cut out blue raindrop shapes or use stickers and glue to the headband.

Fingerprint Raindrops
Supply your children with white paper and a non-toxic blue stamp pad. Have the children make fingerprints on the paper to represent raindrops.

Science, Math and Games

Weather Chart
Each day for the month of April, chart the weather. Was it sunny, rainy, cold, or warm. Ask your child for as many descriptive words as they can think of about the day!!!

Measuring rainfall
On a rainy day, set out a container to measure the rainfall. Measure how much rain fell that day. Continue to measure the rain each day, and record for a few weeks. Ask your child to predict how much water will be collected. Ask at the beginning of the day and ask when it is raining. Did their answer change?

Bean Bag Puddle Toss
You need a hula hoop (the puddle) and some bean bags. You can either set up the hula hoop on its side or on the ground. Have your child try to throw the bean bags into the puddle.

Jump in the Puddle
Set a hula hoop on the floor. Play some music and have your child walk around the hula hoop. When the music stops, have them jump into the hoop (the puddle).

Jump Over the Puddle
Cut out puddle shapes from blue paper or newspaper (you can have the children paint it blue). They need to be small enough for the children to be able to hop over. Then set them on the floor and ask the children to take turns hopping over the puddle.

Wet or Dry
Cut some pictures from a magazine, or show some pictures from a book, ask your child if the objects are wet or dry?

Playing with Clouds
Put some shaving cream on the table. Tell the children to imagine that it is a cloud. To keep children to their own personal space use a paper plate for the shaving cream.

Raindrop fishing
Cut out several raindrop shapes from light blue construction paper. Write several numbers or letters on them. Have them laminated. Then place a paper clip on each raindrop. Make a fishing pole out of a dowel or pencil, string and a magnet. Place the raindrops on the floor and have the children sit in chairs around the raindrops. (This may work better with a few fishing poles.) Have the children try to catch a raindrop with the fishing pole. Then, when they catch one, show it to them and ask what letter or number it is.
Variation: For younger children you could make the raindrops different colors and ask what color is the raindrop
Variation: Ask the child if they can catch the "a" or the "1"

Raindrop Search
Cut out many raindrop shapes and hide them around the room. Have the children search for them like an Easter egg hunt.

Raindrop Hop
Place raindrop shapes on the floor. Have the children hop from one raindrop to the next.

Raindrop Seat Markers
Cut out and laminate big raindrop shapes to be used as seat markers for the children to sit on during story and circle time.

Group Time

Rain, Rain
Rain, rain, go away
Come again some other day
We want to go outside and play
Come again some other day
(Optional lyrics: change third line to say:
(child's name)'s friends all want to play

It's raining, it's pouring,
It's raining, it's pouring,
The old man is snoring.
He went to bed and he
Bumped his head
And he couldn't get up in the morning.

It Ain't Gonna Rain
It ain't gonna rain no more, no more
It ain't gonna rain no more,
How in the heck will we wash the neck
If it ain't gonna rain no more?

If All the Raindrops
If all the raindrops were lemon drops and gumdrops
Oh, what a rain that would be!
Standing outside, with my mouth open wide
Singing La la la la, la la la, la la la,
If all the raindrops were lemon drops and gumdrops
Oh, what a rain that would be!

If all the snowflakes were candy bars and milkshakes
Oh, what a snow that would be!
Standing outside, with my mouth open wide
Singing La la la la, la la la, la la la,
If all the snowflakes were candy bars and milkshakes
Oh, what a snow that would be!

If all the sunbeams were bubble gum and ice cream
Oh, what a sun that would be!
Standing outside, with my mouth open wide
Singing La la la la, la la la, la la la,
If all the sunbeams were bubble gum and ice cream
Oh, what a sun that would be!

Discussion:
Talk about weather and the different kinds of weather. How does weather influence the world around us? What good is rain? What is the rain cycle? Discuss the different types of clouds.

Red, Red, Green!!!
Played like "Duck, Duck, Goose" except the children will say "Red, Red, Green".

Mr. Rainbow Says:
Played just like "Simon Say" except the teacher says "Mr. Rainbow Says". With younger children, do not make children sit out... just say "Mr. Rainbow didn't say".

Rainbow Musical Chairs
If they children made raindrop headbands, have them wear them during this activity. Arrange the chairs in a circle. If you have younger children it is best to have too many chairs. This can be a game where everyone wins. Place different color circles on each chair. Have the children walk around the chairs until the music stops. Then everyone finds a chair. Ask who is sitting on a chair with a red circle? Blue? Etc.

Rainbow Bean Bag Toss
Cut out three raindrop shapes from a piece of cardboard. Paint around the shapes with blue. When dry, prop up the cardboard and have the children play bean bag toss, trying to get the bean bags in the raindrop holes.

Musical Easter EggsCut out large raindrop shapes from colored paper. Laminate them and cut them out. Place them on the floor. It is best for younger children to have more raindrops than children. Play music and have the children walk around the room. When the music stops each child needs to find a raindrop to stand on.

Color Day
Have each day of the week be a specific color day... i.e. Red Day, Blue Day and ask the parents to dress the children in that color.

Color Song
Suzie is wearing red today
Red today, red today,
Suzie is wearing red today
All day long
(Substitute Suzie with a name of the child in your class, and red for the color that child is wearing)
Repeat the song twice and let the child dance during the song. Have the other children sing and clap along.

Color Jump Song
If you're wearing red then
Jump up and Down,
Jump up and Down,
Jump up and Down,
If you're wearing red then
Jump up and Down,
Now sit back down.

What time is it Mr. Raindrop?
This is a fun game to play outside. You can change the name to suit any theme. The children all line up against a wall or fence. And one child, Mr. Raindrop or the teacher faces away from the children, a good distance away from the children. The children yell, what time is it "Mr. Raindrop", Mr. Raindrop answers 1 o'clock, and the children all take one step toward Mr. Raindrop. The children yell again, what time is it "Mr. Raindrop", Mr. Raindrop answers (fill in the blank) o'clock, and the children all take same number of step toward Mr. Raindrop. This continues until all the children are very close to Mr. Raindrop, then Mr. Raindrop will answer it's midnight, and chases the children back to the fence or wall that they started at. The first person Mr. Raindrop touches will be the new Mr. Raindrop.

What's under the Rainbow?
Find a very colorful sock. Place something in the sock, like a block, or a toy. Let the child feel the object and try to guess what it is.

07-25-2006, 12:18 PM	#1
Art Supplies	April Showers, Rain and Rainbow preschool lesson plans April showers and rain preschool lesson plans. Arts and crafts, games, math, science, group time activities, songs and snack ideas. Theme Books From Amazon.com Everything for Spring : A Complete Activity Book for Teachers of Young Children : Activities for March, April, and May Spring : Creative Activities for Young Children Busy Bees Spring : Fun for Two's and Three's Books to Read From Amazon.com[list][]Rain* The Umbrella Umbrella (Picture Puffins) Elsina's Clouds Priscilla and the Splish-Splash Surprise Rain Feet Otto's Rainy Day Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain: StoryTape (StoryTape, Puffin) Raindrop, Plop! Art: Kool Aid Art Sprinkle a little dry Kool aid mix onto a piece of paper. Have your child spray water from a spray bottle onto the paper. Use different colored Kool-aid mix. For added adventure, you may choose to take your children out into the rain with a piece of paper that has Kool-aid on it. Umbrella Art Cut out an umbrella shape and have your child decorate it with paint, glitter, fabric, crayons, or whatever you can come up with. Cotton Ball Clouds Make gray cloud shapes from construction paper. Have the children glue on cotton balls. Rain and Rainbow Collage Look in a magazine or newspaper for pictures of rain, or rainbows, cut them out, and let your child glue them onto a piece of paper for a collage. Torn Paper Rainbows Apply glue onto a piece of paper where the first color of the rainbow should be, you can make a half or full arc. Have your child apply red torn paper to the glued area. Next apply glue under the red torn paper for the next color, and so on!! (you will only be able to do three or four colors) Spray Art Fill a spray bottle 3/4 full with water. Place a small amount of paint (powdered or liquid) into the water. If you use too much or do not shake well the paint will clog up the spray bottle. Do this for at least three different bottles, with three different colors. Then place a large piece of paper on the floor, on an easel, on a wall or fence outside. Then have the children spray the colored water on the paper. Allow to dry. Kite Art Supply the children with paper, glue and ribbon. Have the children cut and glue pieces of paper together and add ribbon to make a kite. This kite can be a very open ended art project, by not requiring the kite to be a specific shape, the children are free to make the kite however they wish. Have the children add a ribbon tail and hang the kites from the ceiling. Paint with Clouds Supply each child with a piece of blue paper, a cotton ball and white paint. Have the child dip the cotton ball into the white paint and press onto the paper to make cloud prints. Paint with a Cloud 2 Supply the children with a piece of white paper an many cotton balls and many different colors of paint, and have them paint with the cotton ball on the paper. Blue Shaving Cream Art Add a few drops of blue paint to shaving cream. Have the children use this to paint with. Not mixing the paint in will give it a special look. Raindrop Hats Make hats from newsprint and have the child decorate with blue paint or rain and rainbow stickers. Raindrop People Give the children a piece of white paper, and a blue raindrop shape. Have the children glue the raindrop onto the paper, and then draw a body as if the raindrop was a head. Torn Paper Raindrops Draw a raindrop shape on a piece of paper. Have the children tear pieces of blue construction paper, and glue them inside the lines for the raindrop shape. Raindrop Necklaces Supply the children with raindrop shaped stencil. Have the children cut out raindrop shapes from construction paper. Then, have the child use a hole punch to make a hole, so they can thread them onto a piece of yarn. Sponge Art Supply the children with spring sponges and paint and have them make a spring scene with them. Spring Cookie Cutter Art: Obtain a cookie cutter that is shaped like a raindrop. Have the children dip the cookie cutter in a shallow container of blue paint, then press onto a piece of paper to make raindrop prints. Raindrop Rubbings Cut raindrop shapes from paper doilies or sandpaper. Tape these raindrops to the table. Have the children place a piece of thin white paper over the raindrops and rub a crayon over the raindrop. Sticker Art Supply the children with raindrop and rainbow stickers and have them place them on a piece of white paper. Stamp Art Supply the children with raindrop and rainbow stamps and have them make a spring scene with the stamps. Raindrop Headbands Measure your child's head, and cut a piece of construction paper long enough to create a headband. Glue the paper together so the headband fits snugly on your child's head but is loose enough to take off easily. Have the children cut out blue raindrop shapes or use stickers and glue to the headband. Fingerprint Raindrops Supply your children with white paper and a non-toxic blue stamp pad. Have the children make fingerprints on the paper to represent raindrops. Science, Math and Games Weather Chart Each day for the month of April, chart the weather. Was it sunny, rainy, cold, or warm. Ask your child for as many descriptive words as they can think of about the day!!! Measuring rainfall On a rainy day, set out a container to measure the rainfall. Measure how much rain fell that day. Continue to measure the rain each day, and record for a few weeks. Ask your child to predict how much water will be collected. Ask at the beginning of the day and ask when it is raining. Did their answer change? Bean Bag Puddle Toss You need a hula hoop (the puddle) and some bean bags. You can either set up the hula hoop on its side or on the ground. Have your child try to throw the bean bags into the puddle. Jump in the Puddle Set a hula hoop on the floor. Play some music and have your child walk around the hula hoop. When the music stops, have them jump into the hoop (the puddle). Jump Over the Puddle Cut out puddle shapes from blue paper or newspaper (you can have the children paint it blue). They need to be small enough for the children to be able to hop over. Then set them on the floor and ask the children to take turns hopping over the puddle. Wet or Dry Cut some pictures from a magazine, or show some pictures from a book, ask your child if the objects are wet or dry? Playing with Clouds Put some shaving cream on the table. Tell the children to imagine that it is a cloud. To keep children to their own personal space use a paper plate for the shaving cream. Raindrop fishing Cut out several raindrop shapes from light blue construction paper. Write several numbers or letters on them. Have them laminated. Then place a paper clip on each raindrop. Make a fishing pole out of a dowel or pencil, string and a magnet. Place the raindrops on the floor and have the children sit in chairs around the raindrops. (This may work better with a few fishing poles.) Have the children try to catch a raindrop with the fishing pole. Then, when they catch one, show it to them and ask what letter or number it is. Variation: For younger children you could make the raindrops different colors and ask what color is the raindrop Variation: Ask the child if they can catch the "a" or the "1" Raindrop Search Cut out many raindrop shapes and hide them around the room. Have the children search for them like an Easter egg hunt. Raindrop Hop Place raindrop shapes on the floor. Have the children hop from one raindrop to the next. Raindrop Seat Markers Cut out and laminate big raindrop shapes to be used as seat markers for the children to sit on during story and circle time. Group Time Rain, Rain Rain, rain, go away Come again some other day We want to go outside and play Come again some other day (Optional lyrics: change third line to say: (child's name)'s friends all want to play It's raining, it's pouring, It's raining, it's pouring, The old man is snoring. He went to bed and he Bumped his head And he couldn't get up in the morning. It Ain't Gonna Rain It ain't gonna rain no more, no more It ain't gonna rain no more, How in the heck will we wash the neck If it ain't gonna rain no more? If All the Raindrops If all the raindrops were lemon drops and gumdrops Oh, what a rain that would be! Standing outside, with my mouth open wide Singing La la la la, la la la, la la la, If all the raindrops were lemon drops and gumdrops Oh, what a rain that would be! If all the snowflakes were candy bars and milkshakes Oh, what a snow that would be! Standing outside, with my mouth open wide Singing La la la la, la la la, la la la, If all the snowflakes were candy bars and milkshakes Oh, what a snow that would be! If all the sunbeams were bubble gum and ice cream Oh, what a sun that would be! Standing outside, with my mouth open wide Singing La la la la, la la la, la la la, If all the sunbeams were bubble gum and ice cream Oh, what a sun that would be! Discussion: Talk about weather and the different kinds of weather. How does weather influence the world around us? What good is rain? What is the rain cycle? Discuss the different types of clouds. Red, Red, Green!!! Played like "Duck, Duck, Goose" except the children will say "Red, Red, Green". Mr. Rainbow Says: Played just like "Simon Say" except the teacher says "Mr. Rainbow Says". With younger children, do not make children sit out... just say "Mr. Rainbow didn't say". Rainbow Musical Chairs If they children made raindrop headbands, have them wear them during this activity. Arrange the chairs in a circle. If you have younger children it is best to have too many chairs. This can be a game where everyone wins. Place different color circles on each chair. Have the children walk around the chairs until the music stops. Then everyone finds a chair. Ask who is sitting on a chair with a red circle? Blue? Etc. Rainbow Bean Bag Toss Cut out three raindrop shapes from a piece of cardboard. Paint around the shapes with blue. When dry, prop up the cardboard and have the children play bean bag toss, trying to get the bean bags in the raindrop holes. Musical Easter EggsCut out large raindrop shapes from colored paper. Laminate them and cut them out. Place them on the floor. It is best for younger children to have more raindrops than children. Play music and have the children walk around the room. When the music stops each child needs to find a raindrop to stand on. Color Day Have each day of the week be a specific color day... i.e. Red Day, Blue Day and ask the parents to dress the children in that color. Color Song Suzie is wearing red today Red today, red today, Suzie is wearing red today All day long (Substitute Suzie with a name of the child in your class, and red for the color that child is wearing) Repeat the song twice and let the child dance during the song. Have the other children sing and clap along. Color Jump Song If you're wearing red then Jump up and Down, Jump up and Down, Jump up and Down, If you're wearing red then Jump up and Down, Now sit back down. What time is it Mr. Raindrop? This is a fun game to play outside. You can change the name to suit any theme. The children all line up against a wall or fence. And one child, Mr. Raindrop or the teacher faces away from the children, a good distance away from the children. The children yell, what time is it "Mr. Raindrop", Mr. Raindrop answers 1 o'clock, and the children all take one step toward Mr. Raindrop. The children yell again, what time is it "Mr. Raindrop", Mr. Raindrop answers (fill in the blank) o'clock, and the children all take same number of step toward Mr. Raindrop. This continues until all the children are very close to Mr. Raindrop, then Mr. Raindrop will answer it's midnight, and chases the children back to the fence or wall that they started at. The first person Mr. Raindrop touches will be the new Mr. Raindrop. What's under the Rainbow? Find a very colorful sock. Place something in the sock, like a block, or a toy. Let the child feel the object and try to guess what it is. Last edited by chicky : 08-11-2010 at 02:15 PM.

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