Wind Socks

Last week (before our Spring holidays - yeah!), my class finished up their study of weather/the seasons and the water cycle. This is one little craft project we did when we were learning about wind. 

We just halved a piece of white card and used a range of materials to decorate it with anything to do with wind. Some used pastels, markers, cotton balls, scrunched up pieces of crepe paper to add to their trees etc. We then just folded the two ends together and stapled. Each student then cut out some streamers from a crepe paper roll (from the party section) and stapled them on. It was so easy to make!

We took them outside at various times and days so that we could determine which way the wind was blowing and estimated the strength of the wind. We hung them up across a clothes lines in our room and when the windows were open they would move in the breeze - it looked great!

Here's the only picture of have of them :(

One more week of Spring Holidays left! I can't believe we only have 10 weeks of the school year to go!

What have you done in your class in the past week? Link up at the Clutter-Free Classroom

Vocabulary Development Song

As you may know, we are doing a weather unit in Grade 2 this term for science. I found this great idea in Building Vocabulary with Familiar Songs. Click on the pic to check it out at Amazon.

It takes everyday songs that our kiddos are bound to know and uses them to build vocabulary. One song it uses is The Itsy Bitsy Spider. I've typed it up because part of the Word Bank title got cut off on the photocopier. Because of copyright, I can't share it here but thought you might like to check it out and perhaps use the same idea with poems or songs that you use in class.

I'll be doing this one with my kiddos later this week after we learn about the water cycle (so they can confidently choose 'evaporation' and 'precipitation' to replace 'dried up' and 'rain'). 

I've added this as part of A Day in First Grade's poetry linky part (it's a song, not a poem, but I still think it's a great idea you can use with poems!). Check it out here

Free Weather Patterns Center for Kindergarten & 1st Grade

Are you looking for a fun, hands-on way to reinforce repeating patterns in math this Spring? This free Weather Patterns Center is perfect for kindergarten and 1st-grade students learning to create patterns like AB, ABB, ABC, ABBC, and ABCD using weather-themed picture cards.

What’s Included?

✅ 10 Hands-on Math Mats for building patterns

✅  Weather-themed pattern cards. Alternatively, you could use seasonal erasers, snape cubes or bear counters. 

✅ An optional recording sheet for student accountability. 

This math center for K-1 is great for:
🌟 Independent practice
🌟 Math rotations & small groups
🌟 Early finishers or morning tubs

Download this free math center today and help your students master repeating patterns in a fun and engaging way!

You may also like the coordinating Math, Literacy, Writing and Fine Motor Weather themed pack with over 120 pages of weather themed fun available in my TpT store: 

Engaging Weather-Themed Math and Literacy Centers for Early Learners PLUS Freebie☀️

Are you looking for hands-on, engaging activities to help your students master key math, literacy, and fine motor skills? My Weather Math, Literacy, Writing, and Fine Motor Centers pack is packed with fun, skill-building activities designed specifically for kindergarten and first-grade learners. Whether you’re teaching in a classroom or homeschooling, this resource makes learning interactive and effective!

Why Use Themed Learning Centers?

Using a weather theme for math and literacy centers is a great way to keep students engaged while reinforcing important concepts. The hands-on activities encourage participation and independent learning, making them perfect for morning tubs, small groups, or rotations.

What’s Included?

This weather-themed pack includes a total of 20 engaging centers, covering fine motor skills, writing, literacy, and math. Each center comes with I Can cards and recording sheets, making them easy to implement with minimal prep.

Literacy Centers

These hands-on literacy centers focus on phonics, rhyming, word recognition, and sentence building: 

• Rainbow Rhymes – CVCe rhyming words
• Storming for Words – ng, nk words in sound boxes
• Reading the Weather – Vowel teams in sentences
• Write It, Use It – Tense: ed, ing
• Feed the Weather – R-controlled vowels (ar/or) – 2 levels of words

Math Centers

Make math engaging with weather-themed counting, graphing, addition, subtraction, and patterning activities: 🎲 Roll and Add Pocket Dice – 3 levels: addition to 10, 15, and 20

• Roll and Subtract Pocket Dice – 3 levels: subtract from 10, 15, and 20
• Measure the Weather – Non-standard measurement
• Sunshower Subtraction – Subtraction within 10 & from 20 with ten frames
• Graphing the Weather – With manipulatives or a worksheet
• Rain Patterns – Make, continue, and name repeating patterns

Fine Motor Skills Activities

Developing strong fine motor skills is essential for young learners as they prepare for handwriting and other academic tasks. This pack includes: ✔ Scissor skills practice (7 pages)

• Push pin poke pictures (5 pages)
• Line tracing and control mazes (14 pages)
• Paper tearing crafts (3 pages)
• Weather vocabulary and picture tracing (4 pages)

Writing Activities

Help students strengthen their writing skills with these differentiated activities: 

• Sentence Building – 2 versions for different levels (8 pages total)
• Weather Writing – Picture prompt, word bank, and editing checklist (4 pages)
• Draw and Write – Follow a directed drawing and write about it (4 pages)

Why Teachers Love This Resource

✅ Differentiated Learning – Many activities include multiple levels to support diverse learners.
✅ Minimal Prep – Just print and go! Available in both color and black-and-white for easy printing.
✅ Aligned to Early Learning Standards – Perfect for kindergarten and first-grade students.
✅ Australian and US Spelling Versions Included – Choose the version that suits your classroom!

Get This Weather-Themed Resource Today!

If you’re looking for engaging, hands-on learning centers for math, literacy, writing, and fine motor skills, this weather-themed activity pack is perfect for your students. Whether used for small group work, independent stations, or morning bins, these activities will make learning fun and meaningful!

👉 Grab this pack now in my Teachers Pay Teachers store!

Also, here's a Repeating Patterns Weather freebie you can dowload from my store!

Theme Labels for Folders and Boxes Weather/Seasons

Well let me tell you what a day I've had! One, I couldn't get my Monster Rounding game to load onto TpT.

Two, once I gave up on that, I spent the WHOLE day doing last years tax ! I got a bit behind and suddenly realised that the 10/11 financial year is just about over and I still haven't done last year's tax! I wish I hadn't done it though because the amount of money I've spent on teaching materials is scary! But it's at the tax agent now and hopefully I'll get a good refund!

Three, my ex still hasn't been over to put up my new shelves since he worked all weekend, but I felt like doing something to get my stuff organised. So... now that I have this need to label everything with all the wonderful labels that have been coming out, I decided to start making some for my theme boxes. Next term it's Weather and the Seasons so that's what I've got for you tonight.

This is a small (half page) label to stick onto my Weather and the Seasons theme box. There is also a whole page version to go in the front of a folder that has activities and lesson plans for the unit inside.

This is the label for the folder (slips down the side of those ones that have the clear plastic to insert labels). Get them here.