Teaching Tips: About the Seasons

The Summer and Winter Solstice, and the Spring and Fall Equinox, occur on different dates each year. Refer to your individual calendars for these exact dates.

Vocabulary

spring, summer, fall, winter, weather, sun, wind, rain, snow, thermometer, forecast

For this activity, you will need:

Poster board (one for each month)

Markers, crayons, or paint (for creating the monthly calendars on the poster board)

Images from magazines or books, or stickers, of holidays and weather (for use in highlighting the monthly calendars)

Additional paper for creating charts

Directions

1. Introduce each season by creating a large calendar for each month of that season. Include the name of the season (as well as the names of the months) and small graphics for holidays.

2. Encourage the children to take turns marking off the days of the week on the calendar each morning.

3. Encourage discussion based on the following questions about the weather conditions of the day and that relationship to the current season:

What will the weather be like today?

How should we dress to go outside based on today’s weather?

Are there things we can’t do outside today because of the weather?

4. Take a nature walk (weather permitting) to give the children an opportunity to see the changes the season brings. Record their findings on a chart.

5. Document holidays taking place during the season. Some holidays will provide opportunity to study customs around the world and integrate social studies and geography into the science curriculum.