Lightning Leap Weather Alphabet Activity (with free printable)

By -
My kids love to sit on our porch during a thunderstorm and watch for lightning! Eventually, though, they get tired of it and we have to go inside. Since everyone here loves lightning so much, I'm putting together some lightning and other weather themed activities this week to go with the Virtual Book Club for Kids' Weather Theme...starting with this "Lightning Leap" alphabet activity!



Lightning Fun Fact: Did you know that lightning can travel from a cloud to the ground, from the ground to a cloud, and from a cloud to another cloud? 

In this letter learning (and/or review!) activity, we pretend to be lightning that leaps from one cloud to another, based on the letter or sound a leader calls out.

To set it up, just print the {FREE} cloud letters in the link below. Cut each page in half. If you are in a classroom or have a lot of kiddos, you may want to laminate each cloud or glue them on paper plates. If you have a lot of kids, you may want to print more than one set so that all your kiddos are not crowded on one little letter. Scatter the letter clouds around the room and let your preschoolers stand on a letter cloud.



To play, just call out a letter and let your little "lightning bolts" leap to it! Here are a few more variations:

* Call out a sound and let your preschoolers leap to it!

* Call out a word and let your preschoolers leap to the first letter in it!

* Call out a word and let your kiddos leap to any letter in it! This works great for spelling words for older kids too! **This was our favorite version! After a second or two I started spelling it slowly for the younger kiddos.**

* Call out a letter and a motion the kids must use to get to the letter! For example, "Crawl like an ant to an 'm.'" Or, "Walk backwards to an 'o.'"

* Let your kidstake turns callingout words or letters!

* Tape the letters on the wall and let the kids run around the room and touch the right letter with their hands!

* Hit the correct letters with hands, fly-swatters, a cup, or a stick!



After you play, you can use the letter clouds in tracing activities or letter art--try filling in the letters with something different (like buttons or fingerprint "raindrops") or putting them at the bottom of a rice or sand writing tray! You can always use them to practice spelling words or names too!



Combining gross motor movement with alphabet learning helps your preschoolers remember the letters better while using their muscles and energy in a positive way! And it's loads of fun to leap like a lightning bolt while you review letters!


Are you working on a cloud or weather theme? If so, you will want to check out our warm & cold front model, our hurricane model, and our super easy thunder science!

You'll also want to check out this week's Virtual Book Club for Kids book: Little Cloud by Eric Carle:
(Amazon Affiliate Link:)



As you know, we are one of the cohosts for the awesome Virtual Book Club for Kids, and this week everyone's sharing weather activities for preschoolers! 



Join us on Facebook for all the fun and be sure to check out these other weather themed activities from cohosts:

Lightning Leap Weather Alphabet Activity (with free printable)  ** YOU ARE HERE!! **
Happy Educating,
Carla




Have you seen HEEP? It is a preschool homeschool curriculum! Learn more here!

I may share at any of these parties!




Never miss another post again!  Sign up for our weekly updates newsletter and get links to all our posts once a week in your inbox!  Sign up here!!




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Science Experiment: Elephant Toothpaste

By -
Image
Update: "Elephant toothpaste" is a science experiment that I used to do with my high school students.  It is a strong multi-sensory demonstration that goes great with a lot of chemistry concepts. It is also very popular with preschoolers and homeschoolers!  The internet loves it too! It has now been read by more than 3.9 million people! This was the post that started the trend on science activity sites across the internet and "irl!"  Thank you for being here...I hope you enjoy it as well!  💕  This exciting science experiment works great in a discussion on reactions, as a demonstration, or as an actual experiment. We've also done seasonal twists with "elephant toothpaste" like making it in a pumpkin and using it for " reindeer toothpaste !" To use it as a science project, perform it once with your child, then ask your child what might happen if you changed the amounts or left out an ingredient.  Any time you experiment...
Read more

Kind Words Sensory Lesson Friendship Activity

By -
Image
This sensory lesson includes a kindness activity for kids that is short and sweet,  and makes teaching kindness a beautiful thing! Learning to use kind words with our friends is one friendship lesson that I think we can never cover enough...kids always need reminding (sometimes adults do too)!  You will need these simple supplies for the kindness activity: cotton balls, course sandpaper, cup, Should I Share My Ice-Cream by Mo Willems Directly teaching good friendship skills, like using kind words, serves two purposes: 1- You can refer to the lesson when someone forgets or needs reminding, and 2- These skills are not intuitive for all preschoolers. This is a perfect age to bring empathy and kindness to their attention and help them cultivate these skills! You can use this lesson plan exactly as I did it with our kiddos, or adapt it to fit your group! 1- Read  Should I Share My Ice-Cream  by Mo Willems.   {Image below is an Amazon Affi...
Read more

Crazy Cool Giraffe Science Experiment

By -
Image
Do you know what color giraffe skin is? Today we're using a capillary action science experiment to make our own giraffe skins in this fun giraffe science experiment project! (Read on...I'll tell you the color in a moment! AND I have a few more fun giraffe facts at the end! Anyway, go on and make a guess before you see the answer!) Fun Spot  Giraffe  Fact:  There are four different giraffe species:  the Masai Giraffe, the Rothschild Giraffe, the Somali Giraffe, and the Nigerian Giraffe.  Each has its own unique spot pattern.  Even more unique, every single individual giraffe has a different spot design.  Just like fingerprints on people and stripes on a zebra, spots on a giraffe are unique in every individual! Giraffe skin is mostly grey. (Were you right?) It's also really tough and thick.  The coat is a shade of tan with brown spots or patches.  Male giraffes actually get darker as they get older! To make our "giraffe ...
Read more