RAIN QUICK STARTS

• Make a rain painting by putting powdered tempera on a paper plate, then holding it outside in the rain for a minute.
• Sing “Rain, Rain Go Away”
• Make rain cakes with mud created by the rain.
• Make a rain gauge.  Set out a glass and collect rain water.  Measure the rain with a ruler.
• Compare boots of different sizes.  Mix up the boots, then find the boot pairs.
• Listen to the rain or a CD of rain music.
• Practice opening a small umbrella.
• Make rain sounds with your fingers on a table or a wooden floor.
• Make rain with a garden hose.
• Read a book about “April Showers”.

RAIN  ART

RAINY DAY PICTURES

• Have your children use crayons to draw pictures of outdoor scenes on white paper.
• Encourage them to press down hard while they are coloring.
• Tint water with blue food coloring to make a transparent, watery “paint”.
• Let your children brush the paint over their papers to create a rainy-day look.

COLORED CHALK RAIN PICTURES

• Invite your children to draw pictures on white construction paper with pieces of colored chalk.
• Then have them hold their pictures outside in the rain.  Or let them dip their fingers into water and sprinkle “raindrops” on their papers.
• What happens to the chalk colors when they become wet?  (They become brighter)

RAIN PLACE MATS

• Give each child a piece of white construction paper and a blue crayon.
• Show them how to make small dots of blue all over their papers, to represent raindrops.
• At the bottom of their papers, have them draw a couple of rain puddles.
• Have the children use their raindrop place mats at snack time.

RAIN GEAR SORT

• In a large box, place several items suitable for use in a dry weather, such as a tee shirt, a shorts, and sandals.  Also, place some items suitable for rainy weather, such as, boots, raincoat, and an umbrella.
• Invite your children to sort out the items they would select to use on a rainy day.
  

RAINY NUMERALS

• Use masking tape to form large numerals on colored construction paper.
• With your children, take the papers outside and hold them in the rain.
• When the papers are completely wet, bring them back inside.
• Then remove the masking tape to reveal the dry numerals.
• Have your children observe what happens to the numerals as the paper dries.

 
RAIN PUDDLE SIZES

• Cut five different rain puddles out of blue construction paper.  Cut each a different size.
• Set the puzzles out on the floor.
• Have your children take turns putting the puddles in a line, starting with the smallest puddle and so on.
   

PUDDLE JUMPING

• Take the puddle cut outs from the game above and set them on the floor.
• Encourage your children to try jumping over the puddles.

RAIN  LANGUAGE

RAINY DAY RHYMES
Rain on the green grass
And rain on the tree.
Rain on the housetop,
But not on me.
                               
Read the poem again and let the children take turns filling in the blanks with nouns of their choice.
Rain on the _____
And rain on the tree.
Rain on the _____
But not on me.
                Adapted Traditional

RAIN  DISCOVERY

SENSING THE RAIN
Take your children outdoors on a rainy day to explore with their senses.  Ask questions such as:

• How does the rain feel on your skin?
• How does the rain make the outdoors smell?
• What does the rain sound like?
• What does the rain look like in the sky?  On the ground?
• What does the rain taste like on  your tongue?

RAIN STICKS
Make some rain sticks for your children to use when studying rain or any time.  For each rain stick, you will need a paper towel tube, some long sturdy pins with flat heads, some rice and some colorful plastic tape.

• Take the tube and place tape across the bottom to completely cover it.
• Next, place ¼ cup rice into the tube and tape the top opening closed.
• Now take the tube and poke in about five pins down each side.
• Finally, wrap tape around the tube, covering up the pin heads.
• Show your children how to hold the tube up, then tip it up-side-down to listen to the rice falling down the tube.  As the rice hits the pins, it makes a rain falling sound.
   

RAIN HELPS THINGS GROW BOOK

• Staple together four to six pieces of white paper to make a book for each child.
• Write the words “Rain Helps Things Grow” on the cover of each book.
• Let the children look through magazines and tear out pictures of things that need rain to help them grow, such as trees, flowers and other plants.
• Then have the children glue the pictures in their books.

Variation:  Children could draw a simple picture of each item that the rain helps to grow on each page, to make their books.

 
MAKING RAIN

• First you will need to boil some water in a pot.
• Then fill a pie pan with ice cubes and hold it above the pot in the steam “cloud”.
• Have the children observe that when the steam comes in contact with the cool air from the pie pan, drops of water form and fall back into the pot like rain.

Caution:  Keep preschoolers back from the actual experiment, so that they could not accidently be burned.

RAIN  MUSIC

RAINDRIP RHYTHMS

• Let your children experiment with tapping on various objects to make raindrop sounds.
• Then start tapping a simple pattern, such as drip-drop-drip-drop, and invite the children to copy it.
• Move on to more challenging patterns, such as drip-drop-drop-drip, drip-drop, drop, drip. Continuing as long as interest lasts.

 
RAIN IS FALLING
Tune:  “London Bridges”

Rain is falling all around, all around, all around.
Rain is falling all around, drip, drip, drop.
Hear it falling round the town, round the town, round the town.
Hear it falling round the town, drip, drip, drop.
                                                                Elizabeth Scofield
Have children use their rain sticks with this song.
 

I’M A LITTLE RAIN CLOUD
Tune: “I’m A Little Teapot”

I’m a little rain cloud in the sky,
I’m full of raindrops way up high.
When I’m full enough, here’s what I do,
I spill my raindrops right on you!
                                                Margo S. Miller
                                                © Warren Publishing House

 
ADDITIONAL RAIN SONGS – can be found at the Music Station under Spring Songs.