Weather is the one science topic your kids can study every single day… just by looking out the window. And yet, it’s weirdly easy to end up with a bunch of random facts and no real understanding (or a child who thinks every cloud is “a storm cloud”). Explore Weather turns the sky into your classroom with hands-on experiments, simple tools, and screen-free activities that help kids actually observe, measure, and make sense of what’s happening outside.
This unit study covers weather patterns, cloud types, and seasonal changes through interactive experiments and creative learning. The anchor of the unit is a functional weather station kit, so kids can think like junior meteorologists while they track conditions over time. The crate includes a 4M Weather Station Kit (to track temperature, wind speed, and rainfall), cloud identification cards (so kids can learn common cloud types and what they signal), and a weather tracking notebook for daily observations, recording patterns, and building simple forecasting habits. If you’ve ever wished your child would stop asking “What’s the weather today?” and start noticing the sky like a scientist, this unit gives them the tools to do exactly that.
Because the weather theme is so naturally cross-curricular, Explore Weather also blends science with literacy, art, movement, and math—without it feeling like five separate subjects taped together. The book stack supports that, too: The Ultimate Kid’s Guide to Weather, 100 Questions About Extreme Weather, Twister Trouble (Magic School Bus chapter book), and Can You Survive the 1900 Galveston Hurricane? (choose-your-own-adventure style). Reading ties directly into what kids are doing with their hands—so when they experiment with air pressure or observe cloud changes, the information has somewhere to land.
And the activities? They’re the kind kids talk about later. Students explore air pressure with experiments, create a tornado in a bottle, and model the water cycle with a “water cycle in a bag” activity. They do a rain cloud in a cup and head outside for “cloud detective” observation (because yes, science can absolutely include staring at the sky like it’s your job). There’s a cotton swab cloud painting project that teaches careful technique and adds realistic shading, plus standout “wow” art like a lightning storm luminary and mixed media sun art. On the hands-on sensory side, kids make Insta-Snow and explore weather-themed sensory play. You’ll also find weather vocabulary practice, plus math extensions like coordinate graphing mystery pictures and a roll-and-practice addition/subtraction game that feels more like play than drills.
Now the big real-life question: how long does it take? We include a free 6-week plan families can use to make pacing simple—think of it as your “just tell me what to do this week” guide. At the same time, this unit is built to flex. You can complete it faster if your kids are on a roll and you’re doing activities more frequently, or you can stretch it longer if you want to linger on experiments, add library books, or keep the weather tracking going as a habit. The unit naturally supports long-term observation (because weather changes!), so it works beautifully whether you treat it as a focused month of science or a theme you return to over a longer season.
If you want to see how it looks, there’s also a companion blog post linked on the product page that walks through a week-by-week approach, shows activities in action, and shares homeschool tips and tricks that work in a real-life setting. It’s especially helpful if you like to picture the flow before you start—what to do first, how to set up the weather station, how families used the notebook, and which projects made kids light up. The blog also highlights how the activity guide is written so kids can take the lead, which is a big win for independent learners (and for the adult who would like to drink their coffee while it’s still warm).
Explore Weather is the kind of elementary homeschool science unit that works because it’s grounded in daily life. Kids don’t have to “pretend” weather matters—they can see it, measure it, and track it. They learn the vocabulary, the science concepts, and the patterns, but they also practice the real scientific skills that matter most: observing, recording data, comparing results, and using evidence to explain what they think is happening. And because it’s open-and-go with all materials included and no prep required, you get the part homeschooling families actually need: a full, meaningful weather unit study that doesn’t require you to build it from scratch.
Additional Resource: Want to see this unit in action? See Our Blog Post Here
Additional Information: Items may vary due to current availability. This crate contains products not manufactured by the seller. Please be advised that crates may contain small parts that may not be suitable for children under 3 years. Do not consume crate contents.
