Spring Weather is a welcome change for many of us around the world. The longer days and warmer temperatures give more time for outdoor activities. We have seen a variety of weather conditions in our neighborhood including more snow, hail, and then back to sunny days again.
This week you can click over the the Spring Weather Challenge for the specifics of this challenge.
Here are some suggestions:
- Have your children describe any clouds they see in the sky.
- Notice how hard the wind is blowing by how things are moving: leaves rustling, trees bending, etc.
- Notice the wind’s direction. Where is it coming from?
- Describe the temperature of the air and/or look it up on a thermometer.
- Notice any precipitation that you may have this week: sprinkles, rain, mist, sleet, snow, fog, hail.
Follow up can include the notebook page from the Spring Ebook, the free Seasonal Weather PDF, or an entry in your own nature journal. You can also print out this activity and use it to identify clouds that you observe in your nature study: Cloud Key.
You may also be interested in my Spring Nature Study Ebooks!
Oy boy – we are about to do a study on weather – that lapbook would be perfect!
We know Spring is on the way in the Carolinas when the Bradford Pear trees bloom white all over town (always such a welcome sight!). However, our farm is out in the country and is a few degrees cooler, so out here we look for Spring when the daffodils, peach trees and forsythia start blooming first (my husband has issues with Bradford pears and refuses to put one on the farm :)). Then we usually get a cold snap, which makes everyone grumble. But when the apple blossoms, tulips, dogwoods, and azaleas come out, we know Spring is here to stay. That’s what’s blooming here now – yippee!
Our azaleas are just starting to show signs of blooms but the dogwood is still sleeping.
Looks fun!
Well here in OHIO it’s 70 one day and 40 the next an lots of flooding! Signs of spring – daffodils, crocus, pansies, trees with new leaves, ants, forsythia, short sleeves, rain boots, and mud tracks through the kitchen!
Thanks for all you do!
Spring in central Florida starts just around Valentine’s Day. Lots of birds and blooms (azaleas especially).The true heat starts up this month, so we are starting to gear up for the long hot months…
At our house in Rochester, NY, we know it’s spring by the reappearance of tracks. In winter there are no tracks; but when spring begins to poke its nose out of the tundra, we can follow the perfectly-articulated, enormous muddy paw prints on their winding trail from the kitchen door around the table and through the family room to a sleeping Lab.
Spring for me is the day after the first thunderstorm when the grass begins to turn green, usually the last of March or first of April.
We are on the Gulf Coast and spring here is always heralded by the blooming of azaleas!!! They are so beautiful and colorful.
The kids love it when the robins start coming back to the yard. That’s when we know spring is on its way here in NJ.
Unfortunately we still have snow in the beginning of winter here 🙁 Some sign that what I consider spring is here are daffodils and tulips and the huge farmer’s market has begun (which doesn’t start until the last Saturday in April usually).
Right now spring is looking wet- we had some more rain last night. Thins are beginning to bloom here in the Davenport Iowa area. Beautiful and fresh and now shiny from the rain. Ahhh!
Well, in Louisiana we’ve seen the signs of spring for a good long while now (sorry to the rest of you still out there waiting for spring to show up). The dogwood blossoms have come and gone. Trees are all leafed out. Right now the azaleas are in full bloom. It’s beautiful.
I am in SW Virginia and in this area, it’s the forsythia, the grape hyacinths, the violets, and the wind!!! Oh my gracious, the wind and fickle weather, but it’s a wonderful change (the flies? not so much.)
Hanging wysteria. It smells so great. I never enter giveaways, since I never win, but here goes!
We always know it’s spring when the robins return and start building nests…and the daffidils start to bloom 🙂
We know its spring here (Vancouver BC) when the cherry blossoms bloom. Its just been in the last two weeks.
We live by a large lake which we cross by bridge most days. We wait anxiously for it to melt and say it’s Spring when all the ice is gone!
Here in Northwest Louisiana, a sign of spring is when the azaleas start blooming. Around town, they are really beautiful. We don’t have any azaleas, but we are enjoying watching our blackberry bushes and orange tree put out. Thanks for the giveaway.
Ok, so I hate to admit this but I have been an indoor girl my whole thirty plus years and only in the last couple of years have started to spend more time outside with my son. So these nature hours are really a learning experience for me as well. So to me when I see the crocus come up that usually means spring to me.
Here in Atlanta I know Spring is here when I can see a nice tint of light green in the woods when I look out my kitchen window! The Dogwoods start to bloom, and my Red Bud trees in the front yard bloom as well.
Bleeding hearts, Violas, Trillium, Fiddleheads, – My favorites are Blue forgetme nots with yellow Daffodils. Pretty. Spring? Means Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain, with a chance of Rain.
We know that spring is here when the babies start hitting the ground. Yes, the daphne blooming is the first little sign followed by the witch hazel and another tree with no leaves but full of large white blossoms. But blooming flowers are a fickle start. After the flowers bloom we can have snow, wind, rain, hail lasting for a month or more before the world really warms up. Yesterday we had snow, hail, and rain. Today the sun was shining. The baby chicks and turkey poults arrived and our first baby goats of the season hit the ground. Twin baby girls! When the first babies wag their little tails our spring has begun!
Here in Virginia I know that spring is here when I look in my backyard and see the blooming pear tree start to bloom. Of course the blooms don’t stay as long as I like due to the wind but they are a beautiful sight!
In south Lousiana, it’s the pecan trees! They say you can’t fool the pecan trees, they won’t get leaves until after the last frost. All of our pecan trees are in bloom. Some started about 4-5 weeks ago.
Of course in LA, we don’t seem to have much of a spring. We go from winter to summer! LOL
I saw someone mention azaleas. Sadly ours have already come and gone. They looked AMAZING for about 2 weeks…
Here in the far north of British Columbia, the sign of spring is being able to see grass in parts of the lawn!
Ah Spring. Our spring actually happens when the lilac blooms. It means no more frost anyway. That usually happens only in mid May if you can believe it. We still have huge snow banks here in good old Saskatchewan Canada.
When the birds that fly south for the winter come back.
Here in Oregon you know it is spring by the clumps of yellow all around from daffodils. Daffodils are like a wildflower here – we drove to the coast yesterday and the highways were lined with them and the daffodils brightened up the beautiful coastal forests. It is always absolutely amazing to witness.
The first signs of spring here are the daffodils and bradford pears followed by tulips, forsythia and red bud. Now the dogwoods are in full glory….beautiful!!
Right now our spring looks like ” …Water water everywhere, and not a drop to drink.”
lots of flooding. Hopefully the river crests this week?
Only in the past few years, since homeschooling, have I REALLY paid attention to the changing of seasons. I’ve noticed the pear trees have their huge buds at the end of February and are in full bloom the first of March! Those huge buds are so exciting to see! We’ve also noticed the buds beginning on our tree limbs the middle to the end of February, too! Seeing buds makes me so happy! I know spring is right around the corner-less than a month away!
Traditionally speaking, around here spring had come when the sap from the maple tree starts to run…except the weather is still very wintery at that time. But that is when out community celebrates. But when the geese start to fly north again I know that the weather is getting nicer and we are (most likely) done with snow. It will be late May though before risk of frost has passed and we can plant outside. So for me I guess these are the three stages of spring I see.
Here in the boondocks of Quebec, it’s when you can see the crocuses pushing through the last snow, most of the neighbours have their maple trees tapped with buckets hanging….and in our case, also when the dog park is suddenly so muddy that the dogs are a new colour when we leave.
Please count me in for the giveaway too! We love your and Amanda’s challenges and lapbooks etc….our nature study wouldn’t be the same without them (which reminds me, is she going to put out a spirng craft kit soon?!!!!!)
erind35(at)yahoo(dot)ca
Yes! Amanda’s kit is almost ready. She was going to release it last Sat but then we decided to add another lapbook! So be patient because it is going to be worth the extra time!
She will not disappoint you. 🙂
Hi Barb…
Well it is finally Spring in the Adirondack Foothills. It usually is in March, but this year not until April. We got a few nice warm days followed by cool ones. The grass has greened up, the streams are bulging and sap season is over. The buds are swollen and the birds return in throngs. Just a few piles of snow. It is delightful!
Our signs of spring here have been late in coming. The weather this year has been much colder and wetter than in the past. This year, the signs of spring were the birds. Even though nothing else seemed to want to wake up, the birds came and started to sing. We’re still waiting for our tulips to open and bloom!
We are in southern middle Tennessee and we know that spring has sprung when the Bradford pear trees turn white as snow with blooms. After that, it looks like it is snowing as the petals fall and the green leaves arrive. After that the Iris flowers begin to bloom. The spring thunderstorms are another sign. We just love spring here!
I wish spring started in February here in New Brunswick, Canada (about an hour from Maine). It is the beginning of April and we still have unmelted snow in places. That being said, my tulips are pushing through and I am hoping they have a chance to bloom before the deer eat them…
My daughter is very interested in the weather. I think we’ll spend the afternoon outside obseving the chilly wind and clouds. I just hope they aren’t snow clouds 😉
Spring is when all the cars turn yellow and my husband comes home and promptly falls asleep on the bed while trying to change out of his work clothes! 🙂
Spring is being stubborn here, but I am seeing my gorgeous daffodils and my magnolia tree is blooming!
I just posted our weather observations, which was very telling to me that weather may be “scientific” but it is difficult for the kids (and myself) to separate the sun/wind/sky part of the weather from the plant-part of the weather. Clear as mud?
They couldn’t NOT draw the plants because to them, they are a demonstration of, a result of the weather! We have had days of rain, and the bushes and flowers burst open today!! The colors are everywhere!
thank you! (the kids loved your sketch tuesday this week – i think we have a new “thing” at our house!)
We know that Spring is on its way when the Daffodils, Red Buds, and Dogwoods bloom. Then there’s the sound of tree frogs in the evening, along with the signs of life springing up everywhere along the creek here at Half-a-Hundred Acre Wood. Even the wasps and bees start to venture out of the woodwork to let us know they made it through the winter to start the life cycle all over again!