Extreme Weather Safety Tips: How to Teach Preschool Kids About Changing Weather

From making snowmen after a recent winter storm to building forts during thunderstorms, there are so many ways to make weather a fun and fascinating part of a child’s life. In recent years, however, the weather has become more intense, making extreme weather safety tips more important than ever. 

According to the National Center for Environmental Information’s (NCEI) “2024: An active year of U.S. billion-dollar weather and climate disasters” report, there are more high-cost weather events happening in the U.S than ever before. Climate change is leading to more intense and extreme weather events, which is why it’s important for parents and educators to prepare students with age-appropriate extreme weather safety tips, lessons and activities. Keep reading for more information about how to help little learners navigate the fascinating world of weather. 

Weather 101

For teachers and families of preschoolers, talking about weather safety in calm, understandable ways can help children feel more confident and prepared rather than scared or fearful. By learning simple safety routines and reassuring language early, young children can understand this “new normal” and respond safely during challenging weather events at home, at school or wherever they are. 

Start with the basics so children understand that weather is part of everyday life. The more information children have, the more agency they may feel in keeping themselves and others safe. Here are three tips begin the weather conversation:

• Begin with basic weather education — Show visuals or ask children about the difference between sun, rain, snow and storms. Have young learners draw various types of weather they have experienced and talk about what it means and how they felt during that weather occurrence. For teachers or parents, there are a number of great resources to make weather learning fun. Here are a few of our favorites:
  • Educational videos from NASA on types of weather
  • Today’s Weather is … a book of experiments is geared toward older kids but many of the activities can be tailored to young learners and has lots of fun ways to learn about weather
  • National Geographic Kids Weather helps unpack how certain weather events occur
  • National Geographic Kids Everything Weather: Facts, Photos, and Fun that Will Blow You Away offers a great primer on weather 
  • A wealth of meteorology content from the National Weather Service, including lessons from fun characters like Owlie Skywarn and Mickey Mouse
  • Ready Kids games, lessons and activities for kids of all ages, educators and families from Ready.gov
  • Weather-specific lesson plans from Preschool Plan It
  • Weather arts and crafts ideas from Pinterest
• Talk about types of clothing for different weather – Talk with kids about how precipitation, wind or different temperatures feels on their face and hands and what they can do to protect themselves from those elements. Using the five senses can help them think through the experience and the gear they need to handle each, like sunscreen for sun; rain boots and coats for rain; hats and gloves for cold. Talking about wearing the right clothing can also be a great introduction for kids to start paying attention to their bodies and if they feel comfortable or too cold or hot. Here is a great video that helps young kids learn about the different types of clothing to wear in various weather conditions. This video from Brainy Day with Miss Del also offers some great tips for preschoolers about clothes to wear. 
• Find Weather Information — To help kids understand the predictability of weather (and, sometimes, lack thereof), try showing them a few places where adults find out more about the potential weather. This could be a news station, online website or weather app. Show them the visuals or radar images, what the experts think will happen that day and have them help pick out the clothing needed. Then, if it rains or is windy during the day, they feel prepared mentally and physically. 

Extreme Weather Safety Tips: Planning and Preparation

After helping preschool kids learn the basics about weather, the next step in extreme weather safety tips is teaching them about planning and preparation. 

• Make a family or classroom weather preparedness kit — Feeling prepared, especially if it includes tools and special items, can be fun and calming for kids. If they know what the plan is, where to go and what they need, their nervous systems have a better time regulating. 
  • Depending on the weather, a kit might include: flashlights, charging stations, water, food, blankets and towels, stuffed animals or other essentials. If you lose power, DPP has you covered with our Power Outage Tips for Colorado Families post. We also love Weathering the Storm Together: A Family Safety Plan from PBS’s Weather Hunters. 
  • Be sure to identify where your family or classmates should go during a tornado or other extreme weather event, and then practice going there together. 
• Read weather books and blog post — Use stories to help kids better understand weather and the feelings surrounding it. Here are a few of our favorites:
  • Thunder Cake by Patricia Polacco
  • The Cloud Book by Tomie dePaula
  • Wally Takes a Weather Walk by Bree Sunshine Smith 
  • The Kids Book of Weather Forecasting by Mark Breen
  • Freddie the Frogcaster Series by Janice Dean
  • Winter Health and Safety Tips for Kids from Children’s Hospital Colorado
• Safety planning — There is a shift where weather goes from normal and playful to dangerous. As adults we can identify this, but kids may not be able to recognize their emotions or may just feel like something is “off.” During extreme weather events, you can help kids by calmly explaining what is happening and what the next steps are to stay safe.  This will help young kids feel more secure. 
  
  • Here are a few examples of language to try:
    • “Are you noticing the wind/rain getting stronger? Is it feeling really big or small today?”
    • “Is the sun feeling extra hot today? How can you tell?” 
    • “Do you hear the sky being really loud? That is called thunder.” 
    • “Sometimes the weather gets really bad and it’s safer to be inside. Should we make a plan for if the wind/rain/sun gets too big for us today?” 
    • “What are some safe and cozy places we can go if the weather gets too strong?” (you can do this for various locations like your home, stores, apartment building, community center, etc.)
      

Rain or shine, DPP is here for you! For more tips on how to manage life and learning with your preschooler, don’t forget to subscribe to our bilingual monthly newsletter, Family Dispatch.