Do you like clouds? What kinds of shapes do you see in them? What do clouds do? Beautiful, puffy clouds often linger in the sky this time of year, so why not do a cloud-themed Explorastory?
Books:
Little Cloud by Eric Carle
The Police Cloud by Christoph Neimann
It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles G. Shaw
Click Here To Order These Books on the Heights Library Catalog
Rhymes:
Boom, Bang!
Boom, Bang, Boom Bang!
Rumpety, thumpety, bump!
Zoom, zam, zoom, zam!
Clippety, clappty, clump!
Rustles and bustles, swishes and zings!
What wonderful noises a thunderstorm brings!
The Big Round Sun
The big round sun in a springtime sky (circle with arms)
Winked at a cloud that was passing by (wink eye)
The little cloud laughed as it scattered rain (flutter fingers downward)
Then out came the big round sun again (circle with arms)
Two Little Clouds
Two little clouds one April day (hold both hands in fists)
West sailing across the sky (move fists from left to right)
They went so fast that they bumped their heads (bump fists together)
And both began to cry (point to eyes)
The big round sun came out and said (make circle with arms)
“Oh never mind, my dears, I’ll send all my sunbeams down to dry your fallen tears.” (Wiggle fingers down like rain)
Song:
The Clouds in the Sky
(sung to “The Wheels on the Bus”)
The clouds in the sky go
Boom, boom, boom
Boom, boom, boom
Boom, boom, boom
(clap hands on “boom”)
The clouds in the sky go
Boom, boom, boom
Boom, boom, boom
Boom, boom, boom
All night and day.
Other verses:
The rain falling down goes
plink, plink plink
(move fingers down in front)
Sad little children cry
Go away, go away, go away
(sad faces, wipe eyes)
The flowers and the trees go
Yum, yum, yum
(rub tummy)
The creatures all around go
scrub, scrub, scrub
(wash self all over)
The sun behind the clouds says
move away, move away, move away
(push clouds away)
The clouds in the sky say
See you soon, see you soon, see you soon
(wave)
Activity: After reading It Looked Like Spilt Milk, we showed children that clouds can take on any shapes with this activity. We showed the children a blue piece of cardstock, folded in half. With white paint, we poured random blotches around the page, including inside of the paper crease. Then, we folded the paper in half and squished down the paint. When you open the paper again, you will see a perfectly symmetrical, ready-made painting! We asked the children what they thought the shapes looked like.
We thought this one looked like a butterfly of flower.
What about this one? I think it looks like a penguin!
Art Project: Using blue paint, foam paint brushes, sponges, cotton balls and cotton filling, we made cloud art! To help encourage letter recognition, we printed out the word “clouds” for the children so that they could label their artwork.