Clouds Activities
Circle Time Language Arts activities
Ask children if they have ever seen a shape that looked like one thing but turned out to be something else. Volunteers might mention scary shapes that they saw in their rooms at night that were actually heaps of clothing or toys. Explain that the book that you are about to read shows shapes that turn out to be something other than what they appear. Read It Looks Like Split Milk by Charles G. Shaw. Ask: “What does the white shape turn out to be?” “What were three of the things the shapes looked like?” “Did you guess what the shape was before the last page of the story?”
Activity: Fold a colored piece of paper in half. Put a few drops of paint in the crease and then press down on the paper. Ask children what the “cloud” look like when you open it up. Let children try it.
Activity: On a cloudy day, take children outside and have them lie down on a blanket on the grass. Ask them to look at the clouds and describe what shapes they see.
Writing Activity: Have children extend It Looks Like Split Milk by completing the sentence below and drawing a shape that matches the sentence.
I see a cloud that looks like a __________.
Rhyme:
Clouds in the sky (Use clouds on board)
Five little clouds floating in the sky.
The wind blew one away,
And now there are four.
Repeat with four, three, two, one, and zero.
Game:
What's in the Cloud?
White sock. Place something in the sock, like a block or a toy. Let child feel the object and try to guess what it is.
Wind and Clouds
Discuss how the wind moves the clouds. Let children blow into straws (wind) to move cotton balls on a table.
Sensory table
Put some shaving cream on a backing sheet or a plastic plate. Let children form different cloud shapes.
Math
Write simple addition or subtraction number sentences on the clouds. Write answers to the number sentences on the raindrops.
Arts and Crafts
Cotton Ball Clouds
Make gray cloud shapes from construction paper. Have children glue on cotton balls.
Cloud Painting
Mix white glue and shaving cream together. Let children finger paint the mixture on to paper. Then have them cut out cloud shapes from the paper. The glue/shaving cream mixture leaves a puffy paint effect.
Giant Paper Cloud
Cut out two large 4 foot by 5 foot clouds from white craft paper. Place the two clouds together and staple around the outside of the clouds, leaving one side open. Let children crumble newspaper sheets and stuff them into the cloud. As children stuff, continue stapling the open side. When the cloud is totally stuffed, staple the last opening shut.
Snack Ideas
Whipping Cream Clouds
What you need:
Small carton of nonfat or light whipping cream
Fresh or frozen berries