Teaching Preschoolers about Weather

Teaching preschoolers about weather can be a simple yet effective way to integrate comparison, vocabulary and even simple math into your daily routine.

Part of our daily homeschool activities involves a quick look at a calendar (I’ll share that later) and a super-simple weather report. My son looks out the window and decides if it’s sunny, cloudy or rainy and puts the appropriate card in the sill.

It’s actually adorable because he repeats the ritual at various times during the day when he looks outside. I was impressed with how much he liked it and how much it got him to talk. Typically, he’s not much of a talker.

We also have a little bar graph to keep track of our weather. Graphing is such an important skill. I want him to be exposed to graphs early and often (even if he doesn’t quite “get” it right now). After he’s decided on the weather, I talk him through the graph and show him which box to color in.

Here in North Carolina, Spring is a fantastic time to start teaching weather because there is a great diversity of weather conditions. I recommend beginning with no more than 3 types of weather and gradually adding more as you see your child understanding. Try to make illustrations as simple as possible. I just used scrap paper to cut out shapes and my son helped me put them together.

I haven’t really brought in temperature, though he does talk about it in other situations. Once we’ve been doing weather conditions for a few weeks, I’ll add in an outdoor thermometer so he can learn how to read it.

Weather is such an integral part of our lives. It shapes our decision about where we go and what we do. It’s a natural fit for learning at home.

How do you talk to your kids about weather?