Children love to discuss the weather and observe weather patterns in their own cities and towns. Below are a few suggestions that will help the children understand the changes that occur as many climates transition from Winter to Spring.
In like a LION and Out like a LAMB! – In Like a Lion Poem and Lion or Lamb Recording Chart
Materials needed: 1 Poem (linked above) for each child, 1 Lion or Lamb Recording Sheet for each child, and stickers or markers.
Introduce the concept of “Lion or Lamb weather”. Which animal makes a loud sound?…which a softer sound? Name several types of weather and ask which animal it would be…Lion or Lamb? What is the weather like today? Is it like a Lion or Lamb? What would the phrase, “In like a Lion and Out like a Lamb” mean? Read the poem (linked above) with your children and discuss today’s weather. Which weather is stronger…weather like a Lion or Lamb?
Print the recording sheet and have the children place an X or a sticker in the boxes of the Lion or Lamb Recording Sheet (linked above) to represent the type of weather for each day in March. Print the poem (linked above) and have the children circle all the letter L’s they find on the page.
Puffy Paint Lions and Clouds
Puffy Paint Lion
Materials needed: liquid glue, unscented shaving cream, yellow food coloring (we improvised and used a little yellow tempera as we were out of yellow food coloring), mixing bowl and spoon, large plate or platter (can do individual plates for each student), Wikki Stix or black pipe cleaners for the facial features, yellow construction paper, and pencils.
Mix the glue and shaving cream in a large bowl. We used 1/4 glue to 3/4 shaving cream ratio and it worked well. Some puffy paint recipes call for equal parts of shaving cream and glue, but the paint does look “puffier” when you use MORE shaving cream. Experiment to see which ratio you prefer for different crafts. We made ONE huge Lion for our classroom, but the children could do individual ones, if desired.
Mix the glue/shaving cream and add drops of yellow food coloring until desired color is reached. Place the mixture on a plate or platter and spread into a circle. Have the children cut strips of yellow construction paper (we cut each vertical strips of standard construction paper into four smaller strips.) Demonstrate how to curl each piece of construction paper around a pencil. Let the children work together to create the lion’s mane. We used black Wikki Stix for the facial features, but black pipe cleaners would work too.
Puffy Paint Clouds
Materials needed: liquid glue, unscented shaving cream, mixing bowl and spoon, craft sticks, and blue construction paper.
In a large mixing bowl, mix liquid glue and shaving cream in the ratio desired (see instructions above for the Puffy Paint Lion Craft). Have the children use spoons to transfer the puffy paint from the bowl to their sheets of blue construction paper. Our kids used craft sticks to spread the paint mixture into clouds, but the kids can use their fingers, too.
Let the clouds dry overnight. Send the paintings home in a gallon-sized zippered bag if doing the craft in the classroom. This craft makes really puffy clouds that are great for display during your weather theme!
We hope you and your children enjoy learning about LION or LAMB kinds of weather at home or in the classroom!
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