How to Explain to a Child Why It Rains
That inevitable time is coming when your little one is going to ask you about those common everyday occurrences that you don't think much about. Don't get thrown off when your child asks you why it rains and just how that happens. Instead, use it as an opportunity to not only explain the basics of rain and the water cycle, but also to help your child really understand how it works using visuals and simple science activities.
Things You'll Need
- Rain-themed books
- Paper plate
- Construction paper
- Scissors
- School glue
- Jar
- Plate
- Ice cubes
- Large bowl
Instructions
Use age-appropriate books to help your child understand why it rains. For kids ages 4 and up, check out "Down Comes the Rain," by Frankly M. Branley, which uses very simple sentences and cute illustrations to explain how rain falls from moisture-filled clouds and how the sun evaporates the fallen rainwater back into the clouds. For kids ages 8 and older, "Inside the Water Cycle," by William B. Rice, provides a more in-depth look at the water cycle that causes rain, including different types of precipitation and water storage in glaciers, freshwater lakes and in the oceans. Help your child create a water cycle visual that will illustrate to her how the water cycle works. One idea is to give your child a paper plate and construction paper. Work with her to draw and cut out a sun, clouds, raindrops, a puddle of water and arrows, using child-safe scissors. Glue the items to the plate in the proper order with school glue. Make it rain in a jar. Fill a jar about 1/3 of the way up with very hot tap water, then place a small plate on top of the jar. After about two minutes, have your child add a few ice cubes to the plate and wait. It should take about 15 minutes for some of the hot water to rise as steam to the bottom of the plate and start to fall like raindrops in the jar. Explain to your child how the cold air at the top of the jar, caused by the ice on the plate, made the steam turn back into water droplets, which is what happens in the air when it rains. Collect rainwater in a shallow, large bowl. Have your child place a large, wide bowl outside when it's getting ready to rain. After it rains, take your child out to measure the water level, then let the rainwater sit out in the sun. Check the water levels every eight hours or so and explain that the water is not disappearing, but is rising back into the air and the clouds. When enough water vapor has collected in the clouds, it will rain again.
