Centre: Rain in a Jar
At this station children will be aided in conducting
an experiment in which children will be exposed to
the way in which rain fall from the clouds in the
sky. Various different sized clear jars will be
supplied, filled with water. Shaving cream will be
sprayed onto the top of the jar to create a layer
resembling clouds in the sky. Children will be able
to use blue food colouring to drop on top of the
shaving cream. Children will wait and watch for the
food dye to drip through the ‘clouds’ as rain would
fall from the sky.
Centre: Water Play
This station will explore the differing intensity and
heaviness of rain falling from the sky. A water play
station will be created using a large trough or
bucket/ container/ tub. In the water, there will be
carious sized and shaped containers with holes
creates or household items such as strainers. The
holes will be various different sizes to alter how
much water will be allowed through at once. This
station allows for children to explore the way rain
will fall onto the ground by scooping up water and
watching it fall through the holes in the containers
and items that have been supplied. The various
different sized hole will replicate the intensity of
the rain falling from the sky.
Explicit / Intentional Teaching:
Mat session
Introduction: All children will be seated on the mat
to begin the lesson. The teacher will read the book
‘The Little Raindrop’ by Joanna Gray to the class.
The book outlines the path a raindrop will take
from falling out of a cloud onto the ground and
then back again. This will prompt children to
consider that rain falls from the sky in clouds. The
teacher will then facilitate conversation about
rainy weather, by drawing on the book that has
just been read, with focus placed on the question
‘Where did the little raindrop come from?’.
Conclusion:
Children will be asked to move back to the mat
area for the conclusion of the lesson. The teacher
will play a ‘Rainy Day Song’ for children to dance
and sing along to. This song will reiterate the idea
of rain and give visualisation to the effects of rain
on the environment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrljaYe8kcI
Children may lastly be asked what type of weather
they think they could be learning about next.
Centre: Coloured Rain Art
Children will be supplied with cotton balls to glue
at the top of a coloured piece of paper to resemble
the clouds in the sky. Children will be given a
variety of different coloured food colouring and
eye droppers. Children will use the droppers to
collect a colour of their choice and drop onto the
cotton ball. The piece of paper will be stood up and
the dye will fall through the cotton wool ball to
drip down over the page to mimic the rain falling
from the clouds.
Centre: Rain Sticks
Children will be able to explore the sounds of rain
through creating rain sticks. A teacher will aid
children in selecting a portion of fillings out of
items such as pasta, rice, beans, beads, or marbles,
and placing them within a tube (such as toilet
paper rolls or paper towel rolls). Either end will be
sealed off with masking tape or duct tape. Children
will be able to explore the different sounds that are
produced according to the items placed in the
tube, mimicking the severity/ heaviness of the rain.
Alternatively, the teacher may choose to pre-make
the rain sticks and allow children to purely explore
the sounds produced by each stick, the heaviness
of the ‘rain’ altered according to the items placed
inside.
Centre: Absorption Water Play Objective/s:
An additional water trough will be set up for
children to use. Materials will be available to Experiment with the way in which rain falls to the
children to explore the way in which rain falls from ground from the sky
the clouds in the sky. Children will be able to
recognise the notion of an object absorbing the Identify where rain comes from
water and releasing it as rain by squeezing the
water out. Such materials and objects may be
sponges, microfiber cloths, or towel materials.
Additional items may be given that do not absorb
as much water in order to show the differing
intensity of rain falling from clouds.

Assessment & Recording: (What are we assessing? How are we assessing? How are we recording?)
- Children will be assessed on their ability to identify where rain comes from
- The children will be assessed through direct questioning throughout the lesson, from the teacher to the children as they are completing activities
- The children’s answers will be recorded upon a checklist in which the teacher will identify if they were able to or unable to identify the sky, more
specifically clouds, as the source of rain
Highlight one or two outcomes specifically connected to your objective/s.

Outcome 4: Children are confident and involved learners

- 4.1- curiosity, imagination
- 4.2- Hypothesising, investigating, inquiry