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| 10 top tips for having fun in the rain
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One of the many great things about living in Australia is our relatively short and mild winter and it's rare for early childhood providers to have to keep children inside all day due to cold weather. Rain, however, is another matter and most education and care providers will encourage children to come in when the rain comes down.
What a shame. Rain offers a plethora of play based learning opportunities for children and with the right gear (jackets, boots, hats) children will hopefully avoid complete saturation as they experience a downpour. It's also a good idea to gather a bundle of towels and jackets to keep close to the door for when you come back inside so the children can be dried off and if necessary changed quickly.
Obviously it would be in appropriate to keep children outside in the event of thunder, lightning and/or extreme wind, however a rain shower is a wonderful learning opportunity for children and there are many activities you can try. Hopefully this list will inspire you to head outside the next time it pours near you.
Leaf float boats
A sustained downpour usually results in puddles and streams of water. Gather up a handful of leaves and place them in these bodies of water and watch as they bustle on their merry way. Boat races are fun if you have a fast moving flow of water.
Puddle jumpers
Rain boots optional, sometimes jumping in puddles in bare feet is simply the finest way to celebrate a rainy day. Play follow the leader through the puddles, measure the size and depth of the puddles and use cups to collect and pour water out of the puddles.
Wet weather art
Collect rain in jars and add a couple of drops of food colouring and watch as the jars fill up. Sprinkle a large piece of paper with food colouring and pop it in the rain and watch as the colours blend into each other and change shape.
Go bug hunting
Lots of insects emerge when there has been a bit of rain, examine the garden, turn over rocks and see what sorts of bugs you can find.
Make and bake some mud
Grab some cooking equipment from the home corner and use all the rain to whip up a batch of mud. Use pebbles and twigs to embellish all the baked delights.
Make rain music and…
Let a variety of different types of containers fill with water and use sticks and implements to bang them and see what kind of music you can make. Try different levels of water and containers in a range of different materials to build your 'orchestra'.
…do a rain dance
Once you have got your orchestra sorted out hold hands form a circle and do a do a rain dance! Use the opportunity to talk about the importance of water conservation in Australia and why we need to be careful about wastage.
Be scientists
Measure the amount of rain, use a funnel and a measuring judge to catch the rain across the day and see how many millimetres fall. Check the clouds and wind patterns (look for moving leaves and rushing clouds) and talk about the atmosphere and how it feels different on rainy days and sunny days.
Make a river
Use a marble track or plastic bottles cut in half and taped together to create a water course for the rain to travel down. If you have a water table in your service let the children take turns holding the 'river' and watching the rain flow into the water table.
Go rainbow spotting
If the sun is shining at the end of the rain shower then be sure to keep an eye out for the rainbow. Nothing ends a session of playing in the rain like a glorious rainbow!
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