Weather & Clothes
Weather & Clothes
Today's lesson uses three clear weather scenes to connect sunny, rainy, and cloudy weather with a hat, boots, and coat. Amara can look, point, pretend to get dressed, and count from one to three without needing real objects or reading printed words.
Today's Approach
Amara is about 2 years and 4 months old. Keep each guided activity to 3–8 minutes. Looking, pointing, making a weather sound, copying an action, or saying one word all count as meaningful responses. Describe what she notices instead of asking her to remember all six English words.
A4 Teaching Picture
Open the original image to download or print
How to use it
Print in colour on portrait A4 paper with “Fit to page” selected. If a printer is unavailable, show it full-screen on a tablet or computer. Move through the sunny, rainy, and cloudy scenes from left to right, then point to the clothes. Amara does not need to recognise the written words or give a complete answer.
Goals
- Chinese: understand 晴天, 下雨, 多云 and 帽子, 雨靴, 外套, then respond with a point, sound, action, or short word.
- English: meet
sunny,cloudy,rainy,hat,coat, andbootsthrough repeated picture talk and pretend dressing. - Early math: in the counting row along the bottom, touch one sun, two clouds, and three raindrops one at a time while hearing one to three.
- Movement: reach, sway, tap, and pretend to put on clothes while practising simple body control.
- Life skills: notice the weather with an adult and take part in one small getting-dressed step.
Materials
- The A4 teaching picture above, printed or displayed full-screen.
- Optional access to a safe window for a brief real-weather check.
No weather cards, toy clothes, or other teaching objects are required.
1. Morning Chinese Picture Talk
Time: 5–8 minutes.
Let Amara look freely before asking anything. Point to one scene at a time and use short descriptions:
- “太阳出来了，是晴天。小朋友戴帽子。”
- “天空有云，是多云天气。小朋友穿外套。”
- “滴答滴答，下雨了。小朋友穿雨靴。”
Choose only one or two prompts:
- “太阳在哪里？”
- “哪边在下雨？”
- “帽子在哪里？”
- “你想指一指外套，还是雨靴？”
If she says “雨”, expand it to “对，下雨了，滴答滴答。”
If she only points to the boots, respond with “你找到雨靴了。”
Today's Original Mini Story
Amara looks out of the window in the morning.
First the sun peeks out and says, “Hello!”
Then soft clouds float across the sky.
Soon, little raindrops go drip, drop, drip.
Amara points to her hat, coat, and boots and says, “Ready!”
While telling the story, pause for Amara to find the sun, clouds, raindrops, and clothes. A point or sound is enough.
2. English Time
Time: 3–5 minutes, focused on listening, pointing, and pretend actions.
Words
| English | Meaning | Response |
|---|---|---|
| sunny | 晴朗的 | Reach up towards the sun |
| cloudy | 多云的、阴天的 | Move both hands like clouds |
| rainy | 下雨的 | Tap fingers like raindrops |
| hat | 帽子 | Pat the top of the head |
| coat | 外套 | Pretend to pull on a coat |
| boots | 雨靴、靴子 | Stamp both feet gently |
Useful Chunks
It's sunny.It's cloudy.It's rainy.Where's the hat?Hat on.Coat on.Boots on.
Play:
- Say
It's sunny.and reach up together. - Say
It's rainy. Drip, drop.and tap fingers gently. - Ask
Where's the hat?and wait for a point or head pat. - Point to each clothing picture and say
Hat on.,Coat on., orBoots on.while pretending to dress.
Do not ask Amara to repeat every phrase. Hearing the phrase and giving the matching point, sound, or action is a successful response.
3. Early Math: One, Two, Three in the Sky
Time: 3–5 minutes.
Touch and Count the Bottom Row
- In the counting row along the bottom, touch the one sun once and say
one. - Still in the bottom row, touch the two clouds one at a time and say
one, two. - Still in the bottom row, touch the three raindrops one at a time and say
one, two, three.
Find and Match
- “最下面的一颗太阳在哪里？”
- “最下面的两朵云在哪里？”
- “最下面的三滴雨在哪里？”
- “先找天气，再找同一列下面的衣服。”
The rainy scene above contains more raindrops, so count only the three in the bottom counting row. The aim is one finger touch, one picture, and one number word. Do not test numeral recognition, writing, or whether Amara can count independently.
4. Movement and Life Skills: Dress for the Picture
Time: 5–8 minutes.
Use the picture as the cue:
- Point to the sun, stretch both arms up, and say “太阳高高。”
- Point to the clouds and sway slowly from side to side.
- Point to the rain and tap fingers from high to low.
- Pretend to put a hat on the head.
- Pretend to put both arms into a coat.
- Lift one foot and then the other as if stepping into boots.
Finish with one simple life routine:
- Look outside together.
- Name only what is visible: “今天有太阳／有云／在下雨。”
- Invite Amara to help with one real dressing step later, such as lifting a foot, putting an arm into a sleeve, or bringing her hat when an adult asks.
Weather Safety
Do not look directly at the sun. Clothing choices depend on temperature, wind, rain, and the day's activity, so the picture is for language play rather than a fixed dressing rule. An adult makes the final clothing decision.
5. Outdoor or Window Observation
During normal outdoor time, or safely beside a window:
- Look for sun, clouds, or rain.
- Listen for rain and copy
drip, dropif it is raining. - Notice whether the sky outside looks the same as one of the picture scenes.
- Return to child-led play after one short observation.
There is no need to wait for all three kinds of weather. Today's real weather is enough.
Bedtime Recall
Keep it conversational rather than testing:
- “今天看到太阳、云，还是雨？”
- “帽子在哪里戴？”
Sunny, cloudy, or rainy?Hat, coat, or boots?
Amara may answer by pointing, touching her head, stamping her feet, making a sound, or saying one word.