Home >> Games & Cards >> Games

Preschool Activities for Thunderstorms

When teaching preschool children about thunderstorms, let them enjoy some hands-on activities related to the weather. Interactive activities help children build hand-to-eye coordination and fine motor skills. Since many children are afraid of thunderstorms, activities can help relieve some tension and make learning about the storms fun. With a few supplies and an energetic attitude, you have all you need to get started.

Sound and Color Activities
- Record the rain falling and the sound of a thunderstorm. Give each child a large sheet of white paper and have him draw what he thinks a thunderstorm looks like. The preschoolers can use white, black, gray, yellow and blue paints to create the picture. Tell them to be creative and use their imagination. Play the thunderstorm recording while they paint. You might also want to hang pictures of thunderstorms on the wall that the children can use to get an idea of what to draw.
Rain Activities
- Let the preschoolers help you make rain. Start by pouring a cup of hot water into a large mouth glass jar. Have one child place a small paper plate over the opening of the jar while another places four or five ice cubes on the plate. The moisture from the warm air will cause the cold plate to condense. This will form drops of water, which resemble rain falling into the jar. For another rain activity, help the children make easy rain gauges. Mark measurement lines using a ruler and a permanent marker on a clear glass jar. Sit the glass outside next time it rains to demonstrate how rain is measured.
Tornado Activities
- Help the preschoolers make their own tornado in a bottle. Give each child a 20 oz. soda bottle and fill it 2/3 full of water. Put one teaspoon of vinegar and one teaspoon of dishwashing soap in each bottle. Show the preschoolers how to move the bottle in a swirling motion to create a tornado-like formation. For added decoration, the preschoolers can add food coloring and glitter to the bottle to resemble the debris flying around during the storm.
Rainbow Activities
- Explain to the preschoolers that rainbows usually follow all thunderstorms. Give the preschoolers a sheet of paper and several different colors of 12-inch yarn. Have the preschoolers tape the yarn in a rainbow shape onto the pieces of paper. For another rainbow activity, have the children hang different colored crepe streamers from a white paper plate. The paper plate also resembles a white cloud. The children can also create a finger paint rainbow by using their fingers and nontoxic paint to draw a rainbow on a sheet of paper.

Games