Rainy Days — Lesson Plan

Here in Marbella, we hardly have rainy days throughout the year, but when we do, I always take advantage of them!This lesson plan is about an hour long and perfect to introduce the weather. I use it with 4 to 7 year-old kids and they all especially love the magic spell to send the rain away!

You'll only need Super Simple Songs on your iPad, a printout, some cotton balls and one brad (and scissors, glue, crayons…).

•Hello! song from Super Simple Songs Vol. 2

In my previous Lesson Plans, I wrote about the importance of starting the class with a song. Trust me, it's great! Not only does it set a happy mood, but it also breaks the ice and lets kids know it's time to pay attention to the teacher.

With this specific weather lesson plan, Hello! is the perfect song to start the class and introduce weather-related vocabulary.

After the song, this short game is great to introduce some basic weather-related feelings!

While standing in front of me, they have to ask me "How are you?" and mime what I say. If I'm hungry, they'll rub their bellies saying "I'm hungry"; if I'm tired, they'll run to their beds and pretend to sleep.

You can now introduce "I'm hot" and "I'm cold".

The first time I say "I'm hot", I'll mime it with them, so they understand what it means. I'll repeat it a few times and then start mixing it in with other feelings. Same for "I'm hot".

• Crazy Time!

When I say "crazy time" they always know something really funny is about to happen.

They have to mime all I say, as fast as they can as I call out feelings veeeery quickly. It doesn't really matter if they are not miming the right thing at the right time. There's going to be lots of laughing, rolling on the floor, jumping around… it's crazy good!

Practise calling out feelings quickly a few times before the actual class. It seems easy, but you don't have much time to think what to say next.

• How's The Weather? from Super Simple Song Vol. 2

Let's talk about the weather! Here, I usually open the Super Simple Song Weather Flashcards on my iPad (I always save the .pdf in my Dropbox) and show them the vocabulary we're going to use in the song.

It's important to introduce the gestures of the song before singing it. You can either use the Super Simple Song ones (they're great!), invent your own or even have kids invent them (this one's tricky, though, as they can get very creative and… complicated)!

When dealing with very active kids, I have them stand far from the window and every time we sing "Let's look outside", we run to the window, look at the weather and run back to position. They'll be nice and tired for the crafty activity!

• The Weather Pie

The Weather Pie is a great activity for this lesson plan. Kids love it and it's good fun for me, too.

It's very simple and the end result is always… interesting (as you can see in the picture below)! Just print this template on a white thick paper (cardboard) and have kids draw the right weather in each slice of the pie. Then use the brad to attach the arrow in the center.

Sometimes we get creative and use cotton balls to fill the clouds, but in this case we don't attach the arrow as it won't turn nicely.

This activity might be longer than expected, depending on how well and fast kids draw and color.

If it's almost time to go, take your brand-new Weather Pie and sing the Weather song one more time, now turning the arrow instead of doing the gestures. When singing "It's sunny", move the arrow to the sunny slice and so on.

If you still have 10 to 15 minutes to go, keep reading!

• Rain, Rain Go Away (learn it) from Super Simple Songs Vol. 3

I recommend you try and make time for this last activity, as kids really enjoy it and it's great to later introduce family in the "Play with it" version of the song.

I usually ask the kids "Is it rainy? Let's look outside!" and most likely they'll run to the window and yell "YES!"

I'll then introduce one of my favourite songs from my childhood by telling a story. For just a few minutes we're all going to become weather wizards! We collect a few things around the room, put them together on the floor and cast a spell to send the rain away.

When collecting things, make sure you use vocabulary you've been learning (e.g. glue, paper, toy, shoe, bag, crayon… anything they can grab quickly works!).

Once our ingredients are ready, I teach them the lyrics and the gestures by having them repeat each sentence after me.

Then I just play the song and have fun singing it like the weather really depended on it!

— —

If you enjoyed this lesson plan, I'd love you to let me know by leaving a comment or sharing it with other teachers/parents. Oh, and don't hesitate to take a look at my other Lesson Plans for more ideas!