Montessori-Inspired April Showers Activities

By Deb Chitwood from Living Montessori Now

April showers activities are versatile and so much fun! They could work well for a spring-, weather-, April showers-, or gardening unit. 

This post originally used a number of activities from an April showers pack that's no longer available. This post was updated in March 2021.

At Living Montessori Now, I have a list of Free Water Cycle Printables.

I also have a post with resource links of Free Printables for Montessori Homeschools and Preschools. 

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links (at no cost to you).

Water Cycle Activity

Water Cycle Activity

The pack this was from is no longer available, but one of these printables could work well for this activity:

• Water Cycle Worksheets and Diagrams from Itsy Bitsy Fun
• The Water Cycle from A Teaching Mommy

I like to add 3-dimensional objects to an activity for preschoolers whenever I can. For this activity, I found some acrylic gems in a variety of shapes, including raindrop shapes. I used an inexpensive wooden tray from a hobby store. Update: Now I use a Multicraft tray for most activities.

If you have a preschool or group, this would be a great activity for a large- or small-group presentation, although it can be introduced individually, of course. 

Presentation Tips

• If you’re presenting to a large group, go to the rug container, get a rug, and roll it out on the floor in front of you. For an individual child or small group, it’s helpful to use a rug if you’re presenting an activity on the floor. 
• Go to the shelf where the activity tray is located, pick up the tray with both hands, and carry it to your rug or to a table. 
• For a large-group presentation in a preschool, generally the children will be seated in a circle. Present the activity facing toward the group. If you’re presenting to an individual child, have the child sit to your left if you’re right-handed so that you don’t block the child’s view with your arm. 
• I would use this activity to tell the story of the water cycle, moving the raindrop through the water cycle as I tell it.
• When you’re finished with the activity, put the activity away on the shelf. Always show how to clean up and put away an activity when you first present it. If you had a rug out for the activity, roll the rug up and put it away. 
• Then I’d leave the activity on the shelf for the child or children to use whenever they choose.

More Weather Resources

• Montessori-Inspired Cloud Unit
• Montessori-Inspired Weather Unit
• Montessori-Inspired April Showers Activities with Free Printables
• Free Water Cycle Printables and Montessori-Inspired Water Cycle Activities
• Montessori-Inspired Weather Activities with Spielgaben {Free Printables}
• Montessori Winter Activities Printables for Preschool Through Elementary from Every Star Is Different (Includes some Spring Weather Activities, Too)
• Free Umbrella Do-a-Dot Phonics Printable (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
• Free Sun Do-a-Dot Phonics Printable (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
• Weather Unit Study Pinterest Board

If you'd like ideas for calendar-based themes throughout April and May, see my April Themed Activities for Kids and May Themed Activities for Kids.

Be sure to go to my post with a list of free water cycle printables at Living Montessori Now!

Deb Chitwood is a certified Montessori teacher with a master’s degree in Early Childhood Studies. Deb taught in Montessori schools in Iowa and Arizona before becoming owner/director/teacher of her own Montessori school. Later, she homeschooled her two children through high school. Deb is now a Montessori writer who blogs at Living Montessori Now.