What We See Out the Window When It Rains

Children look out the window on a rainy day and turn what they see into movement: trees swaying in the wind, people with umbrellas, cars with windshield wipers, birds hiding. They warm up through observation and use their bodies to show the weather.

How to play

1. Go to the window in small groups and each child names one thing they see outside: a tree, a puddle, someone with an umbrella (1 min).
2. Back in place, we are the trees: feet are roots and arms sway hard or gently depending on the wind the teacher calls out (1 min).
3. We are people with umbrellas: walk in place holding the umbrella with both hands and jump over a pretend puddle (1 min).
4. We are cars: hands on the steering wheel, foot on the brake and arms swishing like windshield wipers (1 min).
5. We are birds hiding from the rain: curl into a little ball and, at the end, slowly fluff our feathers (1 min).

Rules

• We take turns at the window, no pushing.
• We act out what we see, each in our own spot.
• When the teacher says “Birds!”, curl into a ball.

Variations

Adaptations

• Visual impairment: the teacher describes what's outside and the child listens to the rain with a hand on the glass.
• Limited mobility: do all four images seated, using arms and trunk.
• Autism: if thunder or noise is bothersome, the child can stay near the teacher and start with the calmer tree part.

Learning goals

• Warm up with movements inspired by the surroundings.
• Observe and name the weather.
• Show different images through movement.

Teacher tip

This turns the disappointment of indoor recess into play. If there's not much to see from the window, narrate it: “Imagine a man walking by with a giant umbrella.”

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