Materials
What to do
Use this collection of rain songs whenever you need to fill a few spare moments on a rainy day.
It's Raining, It's Pouring
It's raining, it's pouring
The old man is snoring.
He bumped his head,
And went to bed,
And couldn't get up in the morning.
Rain, Rain, Go Away
Rain, rain, go away
Come again another day.
We want to go outside and play.
Sprinkle, Sprinkle, Rain, Rain, Rain (Tune: "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star")
Sprinkle, sprinkle, rain, rain, rain
Keeps us here inside again.
We'll find lots of things to do.
A little rain is good for you.
Sprinkle, sprinkle, rain, rain, rain
Keeps us here inside again.
Itsy Bitsy Spider
The itsy bitsy spider
Went up the water spout.
Down came the rain
And washed the spider out.
Out came the sun
And dried up all the rain.
And the itsy bitsy spider
Went up the spout again.
There's a Little Rainstorm(Tune: "I'm a Little Teapot")
There's a little rainstorm right outside,
Into our room we go to hide.
Watch out of the window while you play.
We'll go outside when the rain goes away.
There's a little rainstorm right outside,
Into our room we go to hide.
Rain, Rain, Rain (Tune: "Three Blind Mice")
Rain, rain, rain
Rain, rain, rain
Falling down
All around.
It's raining here and it's raining there.
It's raining, raining everywhere.
Did you ever see such a sight in your life
As rain, rain, rain?
More to do
Art: Make rain paintings. On a rainy day, place thick, glossy paint paper on a flat surface and sprinkle several colors of powdered tempera paint on it. Put it outside in the rain for a while. Carefully lift the rain painting and hang it to dry.
Literacy: Create Rainy Day Books. Ask the children to draw illustrations for one of the songs listed above. Print the words to the song under the pictures. Create a front and back cover and bind the pages together. Do the same for other songs.
Instructions
1. This activity works for any transition when you need to get the children's
attention.
2. Say, "If you can hear me...". Then repeat the phrase. The children respond, "If
you can hear me..."
3. Say, "If you can hear me, clap." Clap your hands one time. The children repeat
the phrase and clap their hands once.
4. Then say, "If you can hear me, clap." This time, clap your hands two times. The
children repeat after you.
5. Continue adding or changing the beat of the claps, or change the motion. ("If
you can hear me, put your finger on your lips.") Once you have all the
children's attention, proceed with new activity instructions.
6. To quiet the children, say, "If you can hear me, whisper." Repeat as many times
as necessary to change the noise level.
7. To line up, whisper, "If you can hear me, tiptoe through the tulips into line."
The children tiptoe towards you to the designated line space. This lets
children proceed into an orderly line safely while still having fun.
8. Change the activity as needed to get the children's attention, or use it during
a period of waiting (such as in a bathroom line). For example, "If you can hear
me, snap."
9. Children love the different variations of this activity. As they become more
familiar with the activity, you can choose children to lead the activity.
