What your Preschooler will Learn from this Preschool Weather Activity:

- The different weather patterns

- How much variation can occur during the day in the weather

- That one weather pattern (i.e.: clouds) can lead to another (i.e.: rain)

- The days of the week

What you Need for this Preschool Weather Activity:

- A large piece of paper (butcher paper or a smaller poster board is great)

- Construction Paper or 250-cards 2x3.5 White Inkjet Business Cards

- Scissors

- Cotton Balls

- Coloring pens/markers

- Velcro with adhesive backs

- A small box such as a shoe box or a pencil box

What to do:

Step one: Using your large piece of paper and pens create a seven day-chart, using equal length squares. Add a day of the week to each square. In each square put two or three scratchy pieces of Velcro.

Step two: Using your construction paper or your business cards, create the following weather patterns

- Rain (a rain drop or a cloud with rain drops coming from it)

- Clouds (use your cotton balls)

- Rainbow

- Sun

- Wind (use swirly lines to indicate wind)

- Lightening

- Snowflake

- Fog (color a few cotton balls gray and glue them onto a piece of paper shaped like a cloud)

Make these a smaller size so you can put multiple weather patterns onto the same square.

Step three: Put a fuzzy piece of Velcro on the back of each weather pattern

Step four: Have you and your preschooler check on the weather and note it on your weather chart. If the weather in your area is volatile, feel free to change the weather patterns throughout the day. Use multiple weather patterns for single days (during a storm, you may have clouds, rain and wind). Make sure you and your preschooler are noting the day of the week as well so you're teaching multiple concepts.

Step five: Keep the weather patterns you're not using in that shoe or pencil box. You and your preschooler can even decorate the box with lots of fun stickers.

Variations on this Preschool Weather Activity:

- Feel free to make a two week or a twenty-eight day chart if you choose. You'll need to create lots of weather patterns, but many preschoolers enjoy seeing how the weather changes over the course of a month.

- If you don't have time or the inclination to make weather patterns—create a 28 day chart and use stickers to indicate the weather.

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Comments from Readers

Hi! I'm Theresa Halvorsen, the preschool science and nature writer for Preschoolrock.com. I have twin boys and am blown away by their fascination with preschool science and how the world works around them. I am always looking for fun and simple science activities so preschoolers can learn about science and the natural world. Please contact me with any suggestions, ideas or questions you have about this site.

Helpful Tips for Parents

• Integrate science into daily routines: cooking (chemistry), gardening (biology), building (physics), weather watching (meteorology). A science-rich home requires no special equipment.

• Science is everywhere: the kitchen, the garden, the bathroom, the driveway. Narrating daily life as science keeps curiosity active between formal experiments.

• Science supplies don't need to be purchased. Vinegar, baking soda, cornstarch, salt, food coloring, and dish soap cover most preschool science experiments adequately.

• Visit science museums, planetariums, and nature centers regularly. Real encounters with scientific environments are more motivating than any experiment at home.

Frequently Asked Questions

At what age can preschoolers do science experiments?

Simple science exploration begins in infancy — dropping objects (gravity), banging surfaces (acoustics), mouthing materials (texture and taste). By age 2, children engage meaningfully with water play, sand science, and simple mixing experiments. Between ages 3–5, children can follow simple experimental protocols: predict, observe, record, and discuss results. The scientific method — hypothesis, experiment, conclusion — is accessible at age 4 with appropriate support. The best preschool science is the child's own curiosity, not a formal curriculum.

Related reading: See also our color mixing science and our garden science guide for more ideas on this topic.

🎓 Skills Your Child Will Develop

• 🏗️ Engineering Thinking — Testing structures, materials, and designs to see what works develops engineering intuition — the practical understanding of forces, materials, and design that underlies all physical construction and problem solving.
• 📝 Recording & Documentation — Drawing what they observe, recording measurements, and noting results gives children their first experience of scientific documentation — and connects science to literacy and numeracy in an authentic context.
• 📏 Early Math & Measurement — Measuring ingredients, comparing quantities, and observing size changes connects science directly to mathematical thinking — making science experiments some of the richest early math experiences available.
• 😌 Patience & Delayed Gratification — Experiments with delayed results — growing plants, watching crystals form, tracking weather — teach children to wait for outcomes rather than needing immediate feedback, a skill that predicts academic and life success.

Teach your preschooler about weather patterns with this fun preschool weather activity by creating a weather chart. From this preschool weather activity, your preschooler will learn how the weather changes day to day and how certain weather patterns (such as rain) follow other weather patterns (like clouds).