Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs Preschool Activities and Lesson Plan
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Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Read the book “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” by Judi Barrett. Slow down as you reach the first page about soup and juice falling from the sky instead of rain so that children understand the main idea of the book. Make sure that children understand the ridiculous situation that the people of Chewandswallow are in, as well as why they have to leave. Have children act out the page that speaks about how the people of Chewandswallow would catch the food that fell from the sky.

Discussion

Talk about what life would be like if you lived in Chewandswallow. What types of things would the children want to fall from the sky? What types of things would they not want to fall from the sky? Use one T-chart to discuss the good parts and bad parts of the rain in Chewandswallow, and use a second T-chart to discuss the good parts and bad parts of the rain as we know it.

Art

Have children draw a picture of something that they would like to fall from the sky. Then have them turn their papers over and draw a picture of something that they would not like to fall from the sky. Encourage volunteers to stand up and explain their drawings to the class. Display the drawings on the class bulletin board. If the children are interested, surround the drawings with cut-out raindrops, and have each child decorate one or two raindrops.

Pitter Patter

In this sit-down version of follow the leader, children will understand the normal progression of rain. Instruct children to follow your lead as you make different noises to represent different stages of rainfall. First snap your fingers or tap on your desk, explaining to the children that the rain is just beginning to fall. Then begin to clap your hands, explaining that the rain is falling harder. Stamp your feet, explaining that the rain is really coming down now, that it’s a downpour. Then bang on your desk while still stamping, and explain that you’re making thunder and lightning along with the rain. Then reverse the process so that the children proceed from banging to stamping to clapping to tapping…and then finally to silence. This is a loud game, so make sure that adjacent classes will not be disturbed before beginning this game.

Obstacle Course

As the last activity discuss with children how the people of Chewandswallow probably had to walk in order to avoid all of the foods that were falling from the sky. Arrange various safe objects, such as playmats, low stools, pillows, or large toys into a simple obstacle course. Tell children that each of the objects is a type of food that has fallen from the sky. Instruct children to walk through the obstacle course, stepping or jumping over each obstacle. As they pass each obstacle, they should call out a type of food that it might be. For example, a playmate might be a pancake or a slice of bread.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is a silly book that kids love to read. This rain lesson plan for preschool will bring the book to life, allow for children to use their imagination, and make the experience even more exciting.

This post is part of the series: All About Rain for Preschool

Find a rain theme and fun preschool activities about the rain!

  1. A Fun Preschool Rain Theme Using, “My Red Umbrella”
  2. Fun Preschool Activities About Rain
  3. Preschool Lesson Plan: Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs