Category Archives: Rain

Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain, by Verna Aardema

            This story takes place on the great Kapiti Plain that is need of rain.  The story can be a good jumping board for water thoughts, both the cycle of water and conservation.

Materials

  • National Geographic or other magazines with African animals inside.
  • Mylar, cut into strips
  • A globe or map of the world

Vocabulary

  • Herdsman (like a cattle farmer in the United States, he makes sure the cow are safe and healthy).          
  •  The Plain (kind of like living out in the country)
  • Drought (when the rain does not come for a very long time and all the plants and animals begin to get sick and there is hardly any water to drink)          

Before Reading the Story

            Ask the children if they know why water is so important?  Make a list of the children’s responses (to drink, to take a bath or shower, to wash my clothes. To cook spaghetti and other food, to brush teeth, water plants, flush).  Talk to the children about the importance of not wasting water.  If you see the sink left running, we need to turn it off. Explain that we do not want to waste water because then what would happen (It would all be gone and you could not get a drink).  Depending upon where you live, this discussion could easily go into drought concerns and water conservation.  The idea is to make sure the children are aware that water is important and that we need to take care of the water.

Science/Scientific Knowledge; expands knowledge of and respect for their bodies and the environment.

Reading the Story

           As you introduce the story, show the children where Africa is on the globe or map.  Talk about how it is very far away on the other side of the world.  Take a moment and do a picture walk through the book. Have the children name all the animals that they see in the pictures.  Ask them if these animals are like the animals they see around their neighborhoods or woods.  Let the children know that these are called African animals.  Go back to the cover and show/point out the cows.   Do these look like the cows we have here?  Why do you think that Ka-pit is watching the cows?  What do farmers get from cows (milk, meat, leather, ice cream). So cows are pretty important animals both here and in Africa.  Let’s find out how the rain is brought to Kapiti Plain and why.

Science/Scientific Knowledge; expands knowledge of and abilities to observe, describe, and discuss the natural world, materials, living things, and natural processes.  AND Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation/shows growing interest and involvement in listening to and discuss ing a variety of fiction and non-fiction books and poetry.

After Reading the Story

            Open up the book to the page that starts “These are the cows, all hungry and dry”.  Lead a discussion on the importance of drinking water everyday.  Ask the children to look at the cows, what does it mean that they were dry (they wanted a drink, their tongues were stuck).  Ask the children questions about being thirsty (have you ever been so thirsty that your tongue felt like it was sticking? When you are outside running and you get thirsty what should you do?  How many glasses of water should you drink to keep your insides lubed? (8)  What happens when you do not get enough water to drink (I am thirsty, I get a headache).  

Physical Health & Development/Health Status & Practices; builds awareness and ability to follow basic health and safety rules such as fire safety, traffic and pedestrian safety, and responding appropriately to potentially harmful objects, substances, and activities.

Discovery

            Pictures of Africa; the people, the animals, the land. Talk with the children and compare the likenesses and differences to life in the United States.

Mathematics/Patterns & Measurement; begins to make comparisons between objects based on a single attribute,  AND Approaches to Learning/Reasoning & problem Solving; develops increasing abilities to classify, compare, and contrast objects, events, and experiences.

Music and Movement

            Use your instruments and have a thunderstorm.  Start off playing softly and become louder as the thunder storm grows.  Then you can bring the instruments back down to soft again.

Creative Arts/Music; experiments with  a variety of musical instruments.

            Sing the song, Rain is Falling, to Frere Jacque

Rain is falling, rain is falling
All around, all around
It’s raining on the tree tops; it’s raining on the tree tops
And the ground, and the ground

Creative Arts/Music; participates with increasing interest and enjoyment in a variety of music activities, including listening, singing, finger plays, games, and performances.

             If you have rain sticks, this would be a good day to let the children experiment with them.

Creative Arts/Music; experiments with  a variety of musical instruments.

            In the story Ki-pat stands on one leg while he watches the cows.  Let’s pretend we are herdsmen in Africa and see how long we can stand on one leg.  Try other balance activities (Put one hand on the floor and lift one leg in the air, stand on tip toe, stand on your heels, put both hands and one leg on the ground and one leg in the air, etc.).

Physical Health & Development/Health Status & Practices; progresses in physical growth, stamina, strength, and flexibility.

            Put out some wrist bells and do a rain dance. 

            If you are fortunate to get mylar (those silver balloons) cut them into strips, it makes a wonderful rain storm.  It sounds like rain when you crinkle it and it’s fun to toss up in the air.

Approaches to Learning/Initiative and Curiosity; chooses to participate in an increasing variety of tasks and activities.

Blocks

            Put out any African animals that you have as well as any others.  Encourage the children to build a lake for the animals to get a drink at.  The children can sort the animals by like kinds or line them up smallest to largest.

Mathematics/Patterns & measurement; shows increasing abilities to match, sort, put in a series, and regroup objects according to one or two attributes such as shape or size.

Art

            Put out magazines and encourage the children to cut out animals and glue them to paper.  Encourage them to look for pictures of African animals.

Physical Health & Development/Fine Motor Skills; develops growing strength, dexterity, and control needed to use tools such as scissors, paper punch, stapler, and hammer.

Sand and Water

            Scooping and pouring water play.  Do you have pitchers that can sound like rain when poured?  If not, you can make simple rain makers by punching holes in the bottom of a plastic container (cottage cheese container).

Science/Scientific Skills & Methods; begins to use senses and a variety of tools and simple measuring devices to gather information, investigate materials, and observe processes and relationships.

Library and Writing

          Tell the children that they are going to find ‘secret messages’ written in the clouds.  From white paper cut out cloud shapes.  Use a white crayon to write a message for each child (Hello Jamie).  Let the children paint with watercolors over their cloud, to turn it dark like a rain cloud. Watch their surprise when they see a message with their name.  Encourage them to read the message or the letters.

Literacy/Alphabet Knowledge; identifies at least 10 letters of the alphabet, especially those in their own name.  AND Literacy/Early Writing; develops understanding that writing is a way of communicating for a variety of purposes.

Dramatic Play

            Add large scarves or pieces of fabric to the center so the children can try to make robes like Ki-pat in the story. 

Creative Arts/Dramatic Play; shows growing creativity and imagination in using materials  and in assuming  different roles in dramatic play situations.

Math and Manpiluatives

           Make copies of the boots and decorate the left and right to match.  Put all the boots out on the table and ask the children to find the pairs of boots.  As they make their matches talk to them about the colors or patterns that are on the boot.

Mathematics/ Patterns & Measurement; shows growth in matching, sorting, putting in series, and regrouping objects according to one or two attributes such as color, shape, or size.

            Make sets of right footed boot in small, medium, and large.  Decorate each set the same.  Challenge the children to find the three boots that match and put them in order from small to large.

Mathematics/ Patterns & Measurement; shows growth in matching, sorting, putting in series, and regrouping objects according to one or two attributes such as color, shape, or size.

Outdoor Play

            In the story Ki-pat shot an arrow into the sky.  Take bean bags and pretend that they are arrows and throw them into the sky.  See if you can catch them.  Play catch with another child, throw the bean bags at a target (perhaps a large cloud shape).

Physical Health & Development/Large Motor Skills; demonstrates increasing abilities to coordinate movements in throwing, catching, kicking, bouncing balls, and using the slide and swing.

Transitions

           This story is written with many rhymes.  Say a word and the child must say another word that rhymes with it before going off to the next activity.

Literacy/Phonological Awareness; progresses in recognizing matching sounds and rhymes in familiar words, games, songs, stories, and poems.

Resources

Water is Water, by M. Paul

This is a book about the water cycle and the many forms that water can take.  With simple words and clear pictures, children will get a good first understanding of the many forms of water and the importance they are to life on earth.

Materials

  • A dozen pinecones, as close to fresh as possible
  • Several trays of ice that has had food coloring added to it.
  • Beach props; towels, sunglasses, bathing suits (big enough to put over clothes), swim cap, empty sunscreen bottle, etc.
  • Metal tray or cookie sheet

Vocabulary

  • Steam (the water vapor that comes off hot liquids)
  • Fog (It’s a cloud that is on the ground.  It has a blurry look)
  • Galoshes (Another name for boots)
  • Swig (suck up the water)
  • Conserve (to protect)
  • Moist (a little bit wet)
  • Dehydrated (super thirsty)

Before Reading the Story

Ask the children to name ways that they use water in their homes. (My dog, he drinks lots of water.  I don’t like water I like juice.   I take a bath at night.  My Mommy and me we washed the car at that place where the water squirts).  Write their responses onto a piece of paper that you can hang on the wall. Explain that today you are going to read a story about all the forms that water comes to earth in.   Ask the children if anyone knows one way that water comes to earth?  Let them respond and then introduce the story.

Science/Scientific Knowledge; expands knowledge of and abilities to observe, describe, and discuss the natural world, materials, living things, and natural processes.

Reading the Story

As you read the story, stop on each page and talk about what you see on the page.  What are the children doing?  What season of the year is it?  Have you seen these water kinds in your area?

Science/Scientific Knowledge; expands knowledge of and abilities to observe, describe, and discuss the natural world, materials, living things, and natural processes.

After Reading the Story

Can the children remember some of the forms that water comes to earth?  Explain to the children that water is very important.  All living things need water to drink.  Tell them that dogs need to drink water, trees need to drink water, and people need to drink water.  Water lubes our bodies up and keeps us moist inside so we do not become dehydrated and sick.  Teach the children the following poem;

You can sip it through a straw,

You can slurp it through a cup.

Water’s so important

So drink it all up!

Repeat the poem often throughout the day when you see someone drinking water or it is time for someone to take a water break.

Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation; demonstrates progress in abilities to retell and dictate stories from books and experiences; to act out stories in dramatic play; and to predict what will happen next in a story. AND Science/Scientific Knowledge; expands knowledge of and respect for their bodies and the environment.

Discovery

Look at a world map or globe with the children.  Show them where the water is and the land.  Show them where you live.  Is it near water?  Is your water saltwater or freshwater? 

Social & Emotional Development/Knowledge of Families & Communities; begins to express and understand concepts and language of geography in the contexts of the classroom, home, and community.

Bring in several pinecones that are dry.  Explain to the children that pinecones can tell when it is going to rain.  When they feel the rain coming, they close up.  Spray one with water to observe.  Put one into a shallow bowl of water to simulate a puddle and observe.  Put several pine cones outside where you can watch them to see if they begin to close up or not. 

Science/Scientific Methods; develops increased ability to observe and discuss common properties, differences, and comparisons among objects and materials.

Music and Movement

Make a Rain Storm

Drip, drop, drip, drop                                   Tap fingers gently on knees

Rain, rain, rain                                               Make rain with fingers

Drizzle, drizzle, drizzle ,drizzle                     Tap fingers quickly on hard surface

Rain, rain, rain                                               Make rain with fingers

Pitter patter, pitter patter                            Tap knees with hands

Rain, rain, rain                                               Make rain with fingers

Pouring, pouring, pouring, pouring          Pound knees quickly with hands

Rain, rain, rain                                               Make rain with fingers

Cloud burst, cloud burst                              Clap and wiggle hands in air

Rain, rain, rain                                               Make rain with fingers

Pouring, pouring, pouring, pouring          Pound knees quickly with hands

Rain. Rain, rain                                              Make rain with fingers

Pitter patter-Drizzle-Drip drop                   Continue backwards till drip drop

Rain, rain, rain                                               Make rain with fingers

Creative Arts/Music; participates with increasing interest and enjoyment in a variety of music activities, including listening, singing, finger plays, games, and performances.

Sing or chant, If All The Raindrops Were lemon Drops and Gum Drops

If all the raindrops were lemon drops and gum drops,

Oh what a rain it would be.

I’d stand outside with my mouth opened wide

Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah

If all the raindrops were lemon drops and gum drops,

Oh what a rain it would be!

(Now let the children help decide what the raindrops will be and sing again).

Approaches to Learning/Reasoning & problem Solving; develops increasing ability to find more than one solution to a question, task, or problem.

Tell the children that you are going to pretend to go ice-skating today.  Give each child two wooden rectangle blocks.  Show them how to stand on them and slide one foot forward and then the next.  Put on music and skate around the room.  Can you skate quickly?  Can you turn in a circle without falling off your skates?  Can you skate backwards?

Physical Health & Development/Gross Motor Skills; shows increasing levels of proficiency, control, and balance in walking, climbing, running, jumping, hopping, skipping, marching, and galloping.

Blocks

Challenge the children to continue skating today but to build a skating rink first.  Or challenge them to build a swimming pool.  Are they able to work together?  Have they built it big enough for more than one child to be able to use?  Is there a pattern to the types of blocks that they used to build the enclosure?

Social & Emotional Development/Cooperation; increases abilities to sustain interactions with peers by helping, sharing, and discussing.

Art

Give the children watercolor paints to use today. Challenge them to make letters and shapes with the paint.

Literacy/Early Writing; progresses from using scribbles, shapes, or pictures to represent ideas, to using letter-like symbols, to copying and writing familiar words such as their own name.

Messy but fun, paint with mud at the easel today.  Bring in some dirt or dirt-sand mix and add water to make a thickish consistency.  Give the children brushes and let them experiment with using the mud as paint.

Creative Arts/Art; gains ability in using different art media and materials in a variety of ways for creative expression and representation.

Sand and Water

Choose two complimentary colors of food coloring and make a frozen ice tray of each.  Add the ice cubes to the water table today with several inches of water.  As the ice melts, the colors begin to come out into the water.  Ask the children what is happening?  What do they think will happen next?  What color do they think the water will become? Record their observations and answers on paper and hang on the wall.

Science/Scientific Methods & Skills; develops growing abilities to collect, describe, and record information through a variety of mean, including discussion, drawings, maps, and charts.

Library and Writing

Put the book into the library center today and as the children look through it, encourage them to talk about the pictures and then their own experiences. 

Literacy/Book knowledge & Appreciation; progresses in learning how to handle and care for books; knowing to view one page at a time in sequence from front to back; and understanding that a book has a title, author, and illustrator. AND Science/Scientific Methods & Skills; develops growing abilities to collect, describe, and record information through a variety of mean, including discussion, drawings, maps, and charts.

Can they illustrate one part of the water cycle?  Write their dictation down that talks about their experience with the water cycle.  (This is a picture of me and my sister when it was froggy and we couldn’t see outside the window good.  My Daddy is gonna teach me how to ice skate when I am six).

Literacy/Early Writing; begins to represent stories and experiences through pictures, dictation, and in play.

Dramatic Play

Add beach props to the center.

Creative Arts/Dramatic Play; shows growing creativity and imagination in using materials and in assuming different roles in dramatic play situations.

Math and Manipulatives

Play Kerplunk. You will need 1-5 hard manipulatives (counting bears, 1-inch cubes) and the metal tray.  Have a child sit on a chair and put the tray behind them so they cannot see.  Then tell them that you are going to drop counting bears onto the tray and they must count how many.  Drop 1-5 onto the tray.  The child counts with the dropping or after all have dropped depending on their mathematical development.

Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to make use of one-to-one correspondence in counting objects and matching groups of objects.

Outdoor Play

Take a blanket and a basket of books outside today.  If there are clouds in the sky, layback and watch them float by.  Can the children find any shapes in the clouds?

Approaches to Learning/Engagement & Persistence; shows growing capacity to maintain concentration over time on a task, question, set of directions or interactions, despite distractions and interruptions.

Bring out the parachute and play Running Through The Clouds.   Have the children hold the edges of the parachute as evenly spaced as possible.  Get the parachute going up and down, up and down.  Call out a child’s name, “Andres, Andres, run through the cloud”!  Andres then runs under the parachute and out he other side.  He comes back to his place and holds on.  Call another child’s name and an action.

(Jump through the cloud, hop, skip, twirl, gallop).

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; shows progress in understanding and following simple and multiple-step directions.

Transitions

Ask the children to go to the next activity by pretending to jump through puddles, swim in the lake, ice skate on the frozen water, float like a cloud, walk very low like fog.

Creative Arts/Dramatic Play; shows growing creativity and imagination in using materials and in assuming different roles in dramatic play situations.