Window Weather Watch
What you need
- a window
- a small piece of paper and crayons
How to do it
- Stand at the window together and look out: is it sunny, rainy, windy, frosty or snowy?
- Look for clues: wet puddles, trees bending, frost sparkling on the grass or a car roof, people's coats.
- Let your child draw today's weather on the paper: a sun, raindrops, a cloud or snowflakes.
- Stick the picture by the window, and talk about what you will both need to wear outside today.
- Look again later and see if the weather has changed.
Why it matters
Looking for clues and deciding on the weather gets them noticing and explaining, and drawing it makes them the family's weather reporter.
What they're learning
- Looking for clues
- Puddles, bending trees and frost tell them about the weather without being told.
- Weather words
- Frosty, windy and drizzly are words they learn by looking.
- Drawing with meaning
- A sun or a raindrop drawn for today is a picture that tells something.
What to look for
Watch for them giving a reason, like "it's windy because the tree is moving".
A tip
Make it the same little job each day in December, so they look forward to checking.
Make it easier or harder
Easier: just name the weather together and choose a coat
Harder: keep a picture for each day of the week and count the sunny ones
