Learning About Wind At Preschool

One of the best ways to learn about wind is to feel it and watch tree branches, kites, and your own hair moved by its force outside. However, there are other great ways we can have fun with our students learning about wind at preschool. These two simple weather activities for preschool are my favorite. The first is a group lesson, although it could easily be done at free choice, and the second is a free choice exploration. Weather is one of my favorite STEM activities to explore with my students because of their inherent prior knowledge of many weather phenomena. They feel the wind every day, so they already have a personal connection to the subject matter. Now, all we as teachers have to do is make it engaging! These two learning about wind activities will definitely keep your students engaged!

Can we knock down a tower with wind?

I decided to use foam blocks and paper fans to explore wind as a free choice activity. The idea is simple, can you build a tower from these foam blocks and knock it down with wind? This activity was a spur-of-the-moment idea that ended up working beautifully. This is a great way for your students to start learning about wind.

Materials:

Foam blocks ( get some here with this affiliate link)
Construction paper fans just folded and stapled.

Explore the different ways to build a tower that can and can’t withstand the wind made by the fan.

Check out this TikTok I made with a short video of this activity.

Extend this activity by adding wooden blocks the next day and comparing how the wind affects towers made from different blocks. Why?

What can we move with wind?

Gather your materials. You will need some cookie sheets, painter’s tape, small bowls, straws, and objects like corks, feathers, golf balls, buttons, cotton balls, pom poms, etc.

Start by popping the painter’s tape on the end of the cookie sheet. This will be the finish line.

Make a collection of items in the bowls for your students to try to move with the wind.

Add a straw, and you are ready to explore.

Using the straw and blowing “wind” at the objects, can you move them across the finish line?

It was fascinating to see how some of my students could direct their breath with the straw to move the golf ball while others struggled with lighter objects like the pom-pom. After the experiment, discuss what was easiest to move? What was the hardest? What was the difference between the two?