While watching the Water Cycle Song (Animated Music Video), students learn about the process of the water cycle by listening to the repetitive lyrics loaded with key vocabulary.
These Cloud Cut Outs quickly give you templates that can be easily cut and applied for classroom decoration or student activities
While listening to the Water Cycle Song (MP3), students learn about the process of the water cycle by listening to the repetitive lyrics loaded with key vocabulary.
Up it goes, down it comes
Preschoolers learn the water cycle as a simple story: the sun warms water and it floats up into the sky, the water makes clouds, and when the clouds get full, rain falls back down. They don't need the big words yet, but many love saying "evaporation!" They notice puddles that disappear on a sunny day and raindrops on the window. The wonder moment comes when a child realizes the rain falling today might have been in a puddle last week.
Songs, pictures and things kids can watch happen. That's the recipe.
Play a water cycle song and add hand motions: wiggle fingers up for water rising, make a cloud with your arms, and flutter fingers down for rain. Singing it a few days in a row helps the order stick.
Why it works: a catchy, repeating tune gives the brain a hook to hang words on, so sung text is remembered better (Wallace, 1994).
Try it withWater Cycle Song (Animated Music Video)SongsOpen it →Fill a clear cup with water and top it with shaving cream as the cloud. Kids drip blue water onto the "cloud" with a dropper until it gets heavy and rains. They squeal every time!
Why it works: going from real objects to pictures to symbols is a core recommendation of the U.S. Department of Education's elementary math guide.
Try it withCloud Cut OutsActivitiesOpen it →Hand out paper clouds and have kids glue cotton balls on top, then add blue raindrops below. While they work, ask "Where does the rain go next?"
Why it works: children learn more from words and pictures together than from words alone (Mayer, 2009).
Try it withCloud Cut OutsActivitiesOpen it →Water play is the best kind of science for little hands.
Teacher favorites right now: Water Cycle Song (Animated Music Video), Cloud Cut Outs and Water Cycle Song (MP3).
Tell it as a story: the sun warms the water, it floats up to make clouds, and the clouds rain it back down. Use simple motions so kids can act each step out.
Not at all, as long as you keep it simple and hands-on. Preschoolers don't need every term, just the idea that water goes up and comes back down.
The shaving cream rain cloud is a favorite. Kids drip colored water onto shaving cream in a cup of water and watch it "rain" through.
Watch a puddle dry up on a sunny day or look at drops on a cold glass. Ask your child where they think the water went and talk about clouds and rain.
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