Do you remember gazing up at the sky as a child, spotting fluffy clouds and imagining shapes in them? Or perhaps your young learners often ask, ‘Why does the sun disappear at night?
The sky is a natural wonder, always changing and full of mysteries that spark curiosity.
By incorporating play-based STEAM, you can turn everyday sky observations into exciting science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) explorations.
1️⃣ Science: Investigating Clouds & Weather
Introduce the Idea: Clouds are a great way to introduce early weather concepts and observation skills.
- Why are some clouds fluffy and others wispy?
- How do clouds make rain?
Activity: Cloud in a Jar Experiment
Show children how clouds form using this simple hands-on experiment:
✅ Fill a glass jar with warm water.
✅ Spray shaving cream on top to represent a cloud.
✅ Drop food coloring (rain) onto the shaving cream and watch as it falls.
Quick Tip: Encourage children to predict what will happen before adding the food coloring.
2️⃣ Technology: Using Tools to Observe the Sky
Introduce the Idea: Scientists use tools to study the sky—why not let preschoolers do the same?
Activity: DIY Weather Journal
Help children become little meteorologists by:
- Observing the sky each day.
- Using simple icons (sun, clouds, rain) to record the weather.
- Noting how the sky changes over time.
Quick Tip: Use a thermometer or wind sock outside to make observations more interactive.
3️⃣ Engineering: Build a Cloud Mobile
Introduce the Idea: Clouds move because of the wind, but how do we represent that?
Activity: Make a Cloud Mobile
Have children cut out cloud shapes from cotton balls, paper, or felt and hang them with string.
Let them gently blow air on their mobiles to see how wind moves clouds.
Quick Tip: Challenge kids to design their own types of clouds—will they be big and puffy (cumulus) or stretched and wispy (cirrus)?
4️⃣ Art: Sky Color Creations
Introduce the Idea: The sky is full of colors—blue during the day, orange at sunset, and dark at night!
Activity: Paint the Sky at Different Times of Day
Provide blue, orange, purple, and black paints and ask children to create their own sky scenes based on different times of day.
Quick Tip: Use sponges or cotton balls to create cloud textures on their sky paintings!
5️⃣ Math: Cloud Counting & Shapes
Introduce the Idea: Clouds come in different shapes and sizes, making them great for early math concepts.
Activity: Cloud Spotting & Graphing
Take children outside and count how many different types of clouds they can see.
Have them sort and graph the number of big clouds vs. small clouds.
Quick Tip: Use cotton balls to create a hands-on counting and sorting activity indoors on rainy days!
Bring Cloud STEAM to Life
Clouds and the sky naturally engage preschoolers’ curiosity and offer endless opportunities for play-based STEAM learning. Whether you’re observing the sky, experimenting with rain, or creating cloud mobiles, these activities foster scientific thinking, creativity, and problem-solving.
Try It in Your Learning Environment.
What cloud activities have your preschoolers enjoyed the most? Share your experiences in the comments.
Looking for more play-based STEAM activities? Join Preschool STEAM Pathways for exclusive lesson plans, printable activities, and hands-on learning ideas.
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