Rainy Days and Mondays

This song by the Carpenters was so very popular back in my day. It was one of those songs everyone knew the words to and loudly sang along with when it came on the radio! I am not going to include the rest of the line, because we are very definitely not going to let this get us down. Hopefully you will find something or many things on this list to help pass the time, stimulate everyone's brain, and actually be fun.

PUDDLES:
There is one wonderful activity you can do when and only when it rains....let your children don those cute rain coats and rainboots and go out in your yard and driveway and jump in puddles.

Talk about why we have puddles in some places and not others. Not only can you let them figure out why there are puddles, you could talk about slopes, gutters, the difference between grass that drains well and dirt spots that may not. You could use something to mark the space where a puddle is now and then check periodically to see if has grown bigger or if it is drying up, shrinking. Maybe each family member could estimate the days it will take for it to disappear or just guess the day it will be gone.

RAIN:
Measure the rain in a given time period perhaps using a glass measuring cup if you do not have a rain gauge. You could repeat this during other periods of rain. Even our four year olds understand graphing, so make a chart! Talk about more and less.

Discuss what happens to all this water...absorbs into the ground for grass, plants, and trees; evaporates back into the air so it can return as rain; is cleaned for us to have water in our homes for drinking, cooking, and bathing. You may can look out a window when it is raining and find a place where the water is running down a space rather than absorbing.

CLOUDS:
Venture outside and look at the clouds between rain and try to identify the different types you see. For instance those clouds that are full of rain are nimbus clouds. Visit sciencing.com and look for "Types of Clouds for Kids." They post a daily video about clouds, and there are directions for using cotton balls to create four of the types of clouds as a science project.

BOOKS AND VIDEOS:
These are three books I quickly found just about puddles being read aloud. Look on You Tube for these, and I bet there are many more about puddles and the rain.

Puddles by Jonathan London READ ALOUD

Puddles!!! by Kevan Atteberry

PUDDLE by Richard Jackson/Story Time Pals/Kids Books Read Aloud

I bet your children could write and/or illustrate their own book or create a piece of art about rain or puddles or clouds.

The sky is truly the limit today!!

Continued prayers for your well-being, our Day School families, and our city, state, nation and world.