Weather Watching at Home for Kids: A Simple Log, Clouds and a Rain Gauge

Weather is one of the easiest ways to start science with a child. It is outside every day, it changes, and you can observe it from a window. A few weeks of notes will show patterns that a single day never could.

What you need

A notebook or a printed chart
A pencil
An outdoor thermometer, if you have one (or use the forecast)
A clean, clear plastic bottle, a ruler and a marker for the rain gauge
A window or a safe spot outside

The daily log

Look at the weather at the same time every day, for example before breakfast. Each entry has:

Date and time.
Sky: sunny, partly cloudy, cloudy, rainy, snowy, foggy.
Temperature: from a thermometer, in degrees Celsius (and Fahrenheit if you prefer).
Wind: still, light breeze, strong, gusty. Watch trees, flags or washing on a line.
Rain: none, light, heavy, or measured in the gauge.
A drawing or one word to describe how it felt.

After two weeks, ask:

What was the warmest day? The coldest?
Did cloudy days feel colder or warmer than sunny days?
What happened to the temperature before rain started?

Younger children can draw a symbol for each day: sun, cloud, raindrop. Older children can graph temperature as a line over time.

Three clouds to spot

Look up and compare:

Cumulus: puffy, white, cotton-wool shapes with flat bases. Often seen on fair days.
Stratus: a flat grey sheet that covers the sky like a lid. Can bring drizzle or gloom.
Cirrus: thin, wispy streaks high up, like brush strokes.

Cloud names are a doorway to bigger questions: How high are clouds? Why are some dark? Never look at the sun to see them; stay in the shade or look away from it.

Make a rain gauge from a bottle

An adult should help with cutting.

Take a clear plastic bottle with straight sides. An adult cuts off the top third.
Turn the top upside down and place it into the bottom part like a funnel.
Stick a strip of tape up the side. Pour water in until it just reaches the flat bottom, then use a ruler to mark every centimetre (or half-inch) up the tape, starting at zero at that water level.
Set the bottle outside in an open spot, away from trees and roofs, held steady in a pot or with some stones.
Check at the same time each day. Read the water level at eye height, record it and empty the bottle.

Rainfall is measured in millimetres or inches. A reading of 5 mm means 5 mm of water would cover the ground if it did not soak in or run off. Most gauges at home are a rough guide, and that is fine.

Other simple things to try

Wind vane. Tape a paper arrow to a pencil pushed into a lump of modelling clay. See which way it points.
Shadow clock. Put a stick in the ground and watch how the shadow changes through the day.
Dew check. Feel the grass in the morning on dry days.
Puddle watch. How long does a puddle last on a sunny day versus a cloudy one?

Weather and climate

Weather is what is happening today. Climate is the pattern over many years. Your notebook is a mini-climate record for your town. If you keep it for a year, you can compare seasons.

Safety

Never go outside in a thunderstorm or lightning, and never stand under a tree during one. Wear sun protection for outdoor observations, and supervise children near water or on rooftops. An adult should handle the bottle cutting and any scissors.

Where to go next

Try the Weather and Seasons unit for younger children, in particular how much rain fell. Older children might enjoy the Weather Detectives unit. For more on the difference, read weather versus climate.