I struggled with what to call this post. Should it be “Rain Activities for Toddlers” or “Rain Activities for Preschoolers?” My husband pointed out that Little Sir is two-and-a-half years old and doesn’t really toddle anymore. So… is he now a preschooler? Gulp! Anyway, moving on…

Last week was a stormy week here in Manila. We took it as an opportunity to read about rain and clouds, and do a bit of ~~toddler~~ preschool art with Little Sir. Here’s a rundown of our activities:

1. Cotton Ball Cloud

Taking inspiration from “It Looked Like Spilt Milk” by Charles G. Shaw, we made a cloud with just paper, cotton balls, and glue. This is very easy to do and requires absolutely zero preparation.

2. Cloud Painting

Little kids love to get messy with paint, and Little Sir is no exception. He sat down to paint a cloud much like those in Eric Carle’s “Little Cloud”… well, at least I think so!

3. Percussion Rain Sounds

“Rain” by Donald Crews became more interesting when we rhythmically played our castanets while reading the rain parts:

“Rain on the green grass

Rain on the black road

Rain on the red car

Rain on the orange flowers

Rain on the brown fence

Rain on the purple flowers”

You can easily do this with homemade percussion instruments such as two pencils for rhythm sticks and an ice cream container for drums.

4. Pretend Rain

Though I generally like the idea of letting kids play in the rain, I did not dare let my two littles out during the storm! I did let them play, though, the day after with a water hose and an umbrella.

Resources For You

Other Cloud Activities – Check out other fun activities that I’m planing to do on other rainy days.

Homemade Percussion Instruments – Look at the photos and be inspired to find household objects made into percussion instruments (those that you hit or shake to make a sound).