Supplies:
Card stock
Chalkboard paint, contact paper, or cloth
Narrow ribbon
Tape or glue
Template, stencil, or sticker, for a large cloud, lightning bolt, raindrop, and other weather elements
It’s so much fun to watch a baby grow and learn, turning into a toddler, and then reaching a preschool age. Each new thing the child sees is interesting and exciting, and can even be a learning experience. A young child, who is just learning about weather, can certainly find it fascinating. You can enjoy that with your child by making a weather station where he or she can display clouds, lightning, rain, rainbows, or other elements. And if that wasn’t enough excitement, the child can also write the weather for the day, when you turn the center into a chalkboard. Your little one will jump up in the morning just to look outside!
Make the weather station by cutting a cloud shape from card stock. Paint the cloud with chalkboard paint. The paint is available in colors of blue, white, and others. Or, when you cut the cloud shape, cut a piece of chalkboard cloth or contact paper at the same time. Glue cloth on; contact paper, of course, is peel-n-stick. Put a piece of adhesive Velcro along the bottom of the cloud, on the backside, at the very edge. Use the opposing piece (cut it into several pieces), to hang the elements that you choose to make. For now, hang the cloud or sky on a hook or from a string.
Cut shapes of card stock to make the weather elements that your child will love. Cut a lightning bolt, a raindrop, a cloud, a sun, and even a rainbow. Or, make things easier on yourself, put a weather element sticker on card stock, and cut around it. Hang just one weather element picture from a ribbon, or make more than one, and hang several at a time. Simply glue or tape the weather element to a ribbon, attach a piece of opposing Velcro to the opposite end, and stick it to the back of the cloud.
The dangling weather announcement is just part of the fun; the child can also write “Cloudy”, “Rainy”, or other words, to describe the actual weather of the day. You won’t believe how excited your young child will be when it’s time to do the weather station update of the day. Don’t be surprised if, one day, your child becomes a meteorologist!
