All the DAZE Productions: Rainy DAZE

Art:
Rain Pictures
Start out with white construction paper and water-based markers. Place the papers out in the rain for
1-2 minutes (you could also spritz with a water sprayer if the rain won't cooperate). Bring the papers in
and blot them dry with a paper towel, leave them to dry thoroughly. The effect is beautiful.

Shadow Boxes
Paint the inside of a shoe box with black or dark blue poster or acrylic paint. Alternatively, you can glue
black construction paper inside the box. Using white crayons or stickers, make a night scene with stars
and the moon on the black background. Get creative, use small plastic toys to create a scene inside
your shadowbox, or make your own with construction paper and glue. Cut out small pictures from
coloring books and color and adhere to your scene. Hang a spaceship or shooting star with a piece of
string and glue.

Clouds
Cut two cloud shapes out of white fingerpaint paper. Glue around edges except for a small opening.
Children stuff with toilet paper. Dry and hang. Puffy white clouds.

Decorate Umbrellas
Cut a large umbrella shape from posterboard. Decorate with crayons, markers, watercolor paints, and
assorted collage materials, such as rickrack, stickers, yarn, ribbon, buttons. or other materials. Cut a
handle from construction paper. You may want to hang the umbrella from the ceiling or display it in a
window.

Kool Aid Art
Sprinkle a little dry kool aid mix onto a piece of paper. Have your child spray water from a spray bottle
onto the paper. Use different colored kool-aid mix. For added adventure, you may choose to take your
children out into the rain with a piece of paper that has kool-aid on it.

Umbrella Art
Cut out an umbrella shape and have your child decorate it with paint, glitter, fabric, crayons, or
whatever you can come up with.

Paint with Cloud
Supply each child with a piece of blue paper, a cotton ball and white paint. Have the child dip the cotton
ball into the white paint and press onto the paper to make cloud prints.

Paint with a Cloud 2
Supply the children with a piece of white paper an many cotton balls and many different colors of paint,
and have them paint with the cotton ball on the paper.

Blue Shaving Cream Art
Add a few drops of blue paint to shaving cream. Have the children use this to paint with. Not mixing the
paint in will give it a special look.

Raindrop Hats
Make hats from newsprint and have the child decorate with blue paint or rain and rainbow stickers.

Raindrop People
Give the children a piece of white paper, and a blue raindrop shape. Have the children glue the
raindrop onto the paper, and then draw a body as if the raindrop was a head.

Drama
Pretend to be rain. With your fingers, make them move rain falling down: lightly, heavier, heavier, softer
(or the other way around).
(You can do it on a table or book.)

Pretend to be thunder. Make soft, louder, louder thunder.

Games:
Bean Bag Puddle Toss
You need a hula hoop (the puddle) and some bean bags. You can either
set up the hula hoop on it's side or on the ground. Have your child
try to throw the bean bags into the puddle.

Raindrop Fishing
Cut out several raindrop shapes from light blue construction paper.
Write several numbers or letters on them. Have them laminated. Then
place a paper clip on each raindrop. Make a fishing pole out of a
dowel or pencil, string and a magnet. Place the raindrops on the
floor and have the children sit in chairs around the raindrops.
(This may work better with a few fishing poles.) Have the children
try to catch a raindrop with the fishing pole. Then, when they catch
one.. show it to them and ask what letter or number it is.
Variation: For younger children you could make the raindrops
different colors and ask what color is the raindrop
Variation: Ask the child if they can catch the "a" or the "1"

Raindrop Relay
Just for Fun! Form two teams. Each team must catch raindrops on their spoon or dish and pour it into
the measuring cup-the first team to gather two ounces of raindrops is the winner. (The amount can vary
depending upon the rainfall)

Jumping Puddles
When it is too wet to go outside, jump over puddles indoors! Place carpet squares of irregular shapes
of blue construction paper around the room to represent puddles, then jump, jump, jump!

Which color is missing?
Draw several different rainbow on small pieces of paper. Each one,
exclude a color that should be in the rainbow.. so the first exclude
red, second orange... etc. Then make a rainbow that has all the
colors. Show the children the rainbow with all the colors on it. Ask
what colors do they see. Then show each card to the children and ask
them if they can guess what color is missing
Variation: Put the colors in the wrong order. See if the children
can see which color is not in the right place.

Look at Me!
Have your child observe you for a minute. Leave the room .Return to the room, having changed a small
detail in your appearance. Remove an earring, put on some lipstick or change your hair. Can they
guess?

Language:
Spring Showers
Spring Showers (Move like rain falling to the ground.)
Flowers (Move like something growing from the ground.)
Trees (Sway in the wind.)
Bees (Buzz and fly.)
Sun (Make a circle with arms.)
Fun (Jump up and down.)
Muck (Pretend to be stuck.) YUCK!

Spring Showers
Rain is falling from the sky. (flutter fingers down)
Lightning flashes! Hide your eyes! (cover eyes with hands)
Thunder rumbles in the clouds. (drum hands on thighs)
Sometimes it is very loud! (cover ears with hands)
When the storm is over, and puddles remain, (shape arms into a circle)
It's time to take off my shoes again. (pretend to take shoes off)
- Marie E. Cecchini

An April Shower
Mix a little sunshine
with an April Shower
Put it in a flower bed
and up pops a flower!

The Rain
Rain on the green grass
And rain on the tree
Rain on the house top
But not on me!

Raindrops
Rain is falling down
Rain is falling down (raise arms, flutter fingers to the ground)
Pitter-patter Pitter-patter
Rain is falling down.

April is a rainbow month,
Of sudden springtime showers.
Bright with golden daffodils
And lots of pretty flowers.
The sun will shine.
The rain will fall.
And spring flowers
Will grow up tall.

Rain, rain, Pitter, Patter
(slap hands on thighs)
Rain, rain, Slish, Splash
(swipe hands together)
Rain, rain, rain fallinf, falling
(raise hands above head, wiggle fingers and lower hands)
On the grass, on the plants.

Umbrellas
Umbrella can be red
Umbrella can be blue
Umbrellas can be patterned
With lots of colours too.

Raining
Windshield wiper, windshield wiper,
What do you do today?
Slip-slap, slip-slap,
I wipe the rain away.

Ode to Rain
Write rainy day poems. Write poems about puddles, mud, raindrops, or grey skies.

Reverse Writing
Challenge your older child, with a pencil and paper! Can they write a sentence backwards, without
looking in the mirror. Sounds easy enough for the letters O, A, and M, but what about J, F, and R ? Can
they write you a secret message ?

Math:
Weather Chart
Each day for the month of chart the weather. Was it sunny, rainy, cold, warm. Ask your child for as many
descriptive words as they can think of about the day!!!

Measuring Rainfall
On a rainy day, set out a container to measure the rainfall. Measure how much rain fell that day.
Continue to measure the rain each day, and record for a few weeks. Ask your child to predict how much
water will be collected. Ask at the beginning of the day and ask when it is raining. Did their answer
change?

Counting Raindrops
Develop number recognition skills and counting skills with this easy-to-make game! Cut several
irregualar shapes from dark blue construction paper to represent rain puddles. Print a number on each
one. In addition cut large raindrops from light blue construction paper. Encourage your child to identify
the number printed on each puddle. Count out the corresponding number of raindrops,, and arrange
them on the puddle.

Music:
It's raining, It's pouring
It's raining, it's pouring,
The old man is snoring.
He went to bed and he
Bumped his head
And he couldn't get up in the morning.

It Ain't Gonna Rain
It ain't gonna rain no more, no more
It ain't gonna rain no more,
How in the heck will we wash the neck
If it ain't gonna rain no more?

If All the Raindrops
If all the raindrops were lemondrops and gumdrops
Oh, what a rain that would be!
Standing outside, with my mouth open wide
Singing La la la la, la la la, la la la,
If all the raindrops were lemondrops and gumdrops
Oh, what a rain that would be!

Rain Song
(Tune of The Wheels On The Bus)
Rain is wet and it falls like this, falls like this, falls like this. Rain is wet, and it falls like this, See how it
falls.

The Rain Goes Drip - Drip
(Tune to: The Farmer In The Dell)
The Rain goes drip - drop, The rain goes drip - drop,
Drip drop, how it does plop, The rain goes drip drop.

The rain goes splish splash. The rain goes splish splash.
Splish splash, how it does dash. The rain goes splish splash.

Rain, Rain
Rain, rain, go away
Come again some other day
We want to go outside and play
Come again some other day
* Optional lyrics: change third line to say: (child's name)'s friends all want to play

Raindrops
Rain is falling down
Rain is falling down (raise arms, flutter fingers to the ground)
Pitter-patter Pitter-patter
Rain is falling down.

Recipes: Craft Ideas
White Mud
Ingredients
3 rolls white toilet paper
1 bar Ivory soap
3/4 cup Borax
Directions
Unroll 3 rolls of white bathroom tissue paper into a very large
container, you will want a lid for it. Generously add water until
covered completely. Grate 1 bar of Ivory soap into mixture, and add
3/4 c. of Borax. Mix up well and start making mud pies!

Science
Playing with Clouds
Give each child a large sheet of paper. Put some shaving cream in the middle of the paper. Tell them to
imagine that it is a cloud. How does it feel? What color is it? Let them have fun playing with it. It also
makes the room smell great!

Rain
How about some water play? I filled the buckets from our sand and rice table with water. Add some
plastic boats and cups, put smocks on the kids and let them have fun! They loved it. Just remember to
lay down a plastic sheet under the kids feet (I used an old shower curtain).

Measuring Rainfall
On a rainy day, set out a container to measure the rainfall. Measure how much rain fell that day.
Continue to measure the rain each day, and record for a few weeks. Ask your child to predict how much
water will be collected. Ask at the beginning of the day and ask when it is raining. Did their answer
change?

Sensory
Blindfold
Wear a blindfold to encourage the use of other senses. Feel, smell, and listen to the weather.