WATER CYCLE Montessori geography study teaches preschoolers and kindergartners about evaporation, condensation, including CLOUD TYPES, and precipitation.
In the natural world, water is always moving and changing form while remaining in the same quantity. That means that the water dinosaurs might have drunk from a lake a long time ago could be the same water you are drinking from the glass now! In fact, water travels from melting ice caps to streams and rivers, and from rivers and lakes to oceans. Thereafter, either evaporating from oceans or through a process of transpiration (yes! plants do sweat!), water travels to the atmosphere, and from the atmosphere back to land. Thus, the water cycle slowly purifies water and replenishes the land with fresh water. With hands-on kids activities and DIYs, you can explore Montessori science and geography lessons, such as CLOUD TYPES, and the process of condensation in a fun way that will engage the whole child! When little hands are tinkering, little brains are thinking! So, to make learning enchanting, we need to kindle the thirst of knowledge and pour the fuel of interest-driven project-based invitations to learn! And the best way to make learning at home memorable, whole-hearted and enchanting, is by ENGAGING your child to MAKE and CREATE!
WATER CYCLE Kids Activities
So, what is the WATER CYCLE? In simple terms, it is the process by which water moves around in our world. In particular, water moves around our world by evaporation, condensation, and precipitation.
- EVAPORATION is the process in which a liquid becomes a gas.
- CONDENSATION is the process in which a gas becomes a liquid.
- PRECIPITATION occurs when water falls from the sky in the form of rain, snow, sleet or hail.
WATER CYCLE Kids Activities DIY
Did tou know that children have a VERY SENSORIAL relationship with their world untill they are about six-years-old? That means they perceive the information through SENSES.
Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.Xunzi Kuang (Chinese Confucian philosopher, 312-230 BC.)
So, to make learning EFFECTIVE, we need to INVOLVE little people in the process!
For this Montessori Geography lesson
– draw water cycle
– write labels
– apply tape to your entire cardboard
– invite your child to overlay with play dough
– offer to match the labels
✔️ hand-eye coordination
✔️color and shape recognition
✔️fine motor control
Julia’s (10 yr) WATER CYCLE DIY. The book she is referring to is Nature Anatomy
DIY Terrarium WATER CYCLE
DIY WATER CYCLE Kids Activities are a fun way to engage little learners in geography and science lessons. DIY Terrarium is a super easy STEM Science in a Bottle Experiment that your child will love! Besides, you can either make it with real-life plants, resembling a true water cycle or, as we did, create a pretend terrarium with real but non-living things like moss, bark, etc. As well as any water-proof animals figurines.
See HERE details about how to make a DIY Terrarium Science in a Bottle Experiment.
- ACTIVATED CHARCOAL. To make a living terrarium, cover the bottom of the jar with activated charcoal. (Just enough to cover the bottom of it. If you plan on keeping the terrarium for more than a couple of weeks,s activated charcoal will help keep mold and bacteria from growing inside of the terrarium. You can find it at most pet or garden supply stores.)
- PEBBLES. Next, add a layer of pebbles or small rocks about an inch deep.
- SOIL. Thereafter, add a layer of soil about an inch deep.
- PLANTS. As a next step, place plants on top of the soil and add more soil to cover the roots to the level where soil meets the area of the plant where the stem starts.
- DECORATIONS. Optionally, add shells, stones, or animal figurines.
- WATER. Finally, water the soil so that it is damp, and place a lid on top of the jar. Explain to the child that you are not to remove the lid, and that all the water the plant needs is now in the jar.
- LOCATION. Place the terrarium in the area with plenty of indirect sunlight and observe over the next couple of weeks.
WATER CYCLE STAGES
The most obvious example of evaporation is when we boil water in a pot or a kettle. The water changes from liquid to steam and rises up since it becomes lighter. Alternatively, try Samadhi Board: Water Drawing and watch your drawing magically disappear! (You will achieve the same effect of evaporation when you paint with water on a sidewalk on a hot day.)
CONDENSATION CLOUD TYPES DIY
So, what happens after the water vapors rise up and cool down? Through the process of condensation they turn into clouds!
Have you ever invited your child to observe the clouds? Are the clouds high or low? Or are they stretched like a funnel covering all the heights? Also, are the clouds puffy and white or gray blanket covering the sky? Are they predicting rain to come or fair weather? Well, with this recycled cardboard DIY, your young meteorologist will be able to predict the wether, not the mention will learn all these long and complicated names of clouds!
YOU’ll NEED for this DIY
HOW TO Montessori CLOUD TYPES Geography lesson
First, draw or invite your child to draw various cloud types. For 4 yr + keep it simple to one type of a cloud form HIGH, MEDIUM, and LOW heights. Also, choose ones that are drastically different. For example, CIRRUS, NIMBOSTRATUS, and CUMULUS. Next, apply tape to your entire cardboard to preserve your painting. Thereafter, apply a glue stick over the drawn cloud and glue the cotton, resembling that type of a cloud. Lastly, offer to paint clouds that are gray or blue.
Did you notice that clouds that are HIGH (20,000 ft or above) have CIRRO or CIRRUS in its name? Also, clouds that high are mainly made from ice crystals. Next, clouds that are MEDIUM (6,500 – 20,000 ft) have ALTO in its name. Lastly, clouds that are LOW (below 6,500 ft) have STRATUS as part of the name. I have illustrated this with a color-coded bar on the right.
Here is a CLOUD TYPES DIY made entirely by kids! To the left is Julia’s (10 yr) and the book is Everything Weather by National Geographic KIDS. To the right, is Adrian’s DIY (6 yr) and the book is Nature Anatomy.
Raining in a jar is a classic science experiment your little one will love! Simply fill your jar with water and top it with shaving foam/cream. Make sure not to add too much shaving foam as it will take longer for it to “rain”~ the colors to seep through! And if patience is not your virtue, use a dropper to squeeze color closer to water! p.s. You can set multiple jars and drop a single color in each.
Montessori Geography and science are such fun topics to explore with your little one! Geography helps children place themselves on Earth, fostering care for the environment and the people. By understanding how things work, children can become better global stewards in helping make a world a better place!
I hope you enjoyed our WATER CYCLE Kids Activities! Please, leave comment which one was your favorite!
Please, always supervise your child!
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By the way, have you downloaded my NEW eBook THE BASICS? It has everything you need to know to get started on your Montessori journey! Also, you get a CURRICULUM outline reference guide, the order of lessons, and the age when they should be introduced, in my opinion. See details HERE.
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