Stormy Weather, Stormy Times, Weather Experiments

Stormy weather hits many areas during March and April, largely due to changing weather patterns in the spring. There’s warmer weather, trying to work its way into our lives, clashing with chilly temperatures, still lingering from winter.

This skirmish between warm fronts and cool fronts results in rising updrafts of warm, moist air and downdrafts of cool, dry air. Add in the varying winds from one direction of a warm front interacting with winds from a different direction of a cool front, plus rapidly changing temperatures, you’ll often get thunderstorms or even tornadoes.

But as spring continues marching forward, and as winter finally concedes and gives up the fight, the stormy weather soon settles down. We’ll still get some rain showers in the summer. But the severe, turbulent storms of spring thankfully calm down.

Just like in life, we might have some clashes and disagreements with others at times. Tempers – like temperatures – might rise. Cooler attitudes – like cooler weather – can calm things down. And always, there will be sunnier days, gentler breezes, cloud-free skies, and beautiful rainbows.

Even in the face of storms – in weather or in life – we can be brave, we can be calm, and we can find beauty and peace.

Here are Fun Weather Experiments on making storms, thunder, lightning, tornadoes, hurricanes, clouds, rainbows, paintings, and more!

1. Weather Wiz Kids: https://www.weatherwizkids.com/weather-experiments.htm

2. Science for Kids: https://www.science-sparks.com/weather-science-for-kids

3. Science Fun: https://www.sciencefun.org/kidszone/experiments/weather-science-experiments

4. Make Rainbows Outdoors: https://bigbangeducation.com.au/make-a-rainbow

5. Paint a Stormy Scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrfXSWJh-I8
This is a video I did of my Stormy Sea and Sky Painting (shown above). View the video to see the techniques, then try a stormy painting or artwork of your own!

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Happy homeschooling!

Changing Seasons + Nature Studies

As Winter slides into Spring, we see remarkable changes all around us. Winter snows and chilly temperatures are behind us, and warmer weather and sunny skies are ahead of us.

The same is true for our homeschool experiences. We can open ourselves to remarkable changes, to sunnier times, easier days, and spectacular studies and learning.

We need only look to nature to inspire us. Everything around us looks brighter, cheerier, more colorful. Follow Mother Nature's lead and live in the excitement of spring, of flowers blossoming, birds singing merrily, and beautiful new changes outside our windows almost daily.

From our observations of these things, we find peace and hope. From our interactions with nature -- up close and personal -- we learn new information, acquire vast knowledge, and keep these wonderful experiences in our memories indefinitely.

This week, I spent time reviewing my experiences painting nature scenes, mainly winter scenes, and recalling the falling snow -- probably the last snowfall of the season. And I treasured those experiences. I've shared them through a video here on YouTube -- Nature Inspired Art -- from my art studio, Misty Glow Studio.

Take time to paint your experiences from this past winter, or sketch or draw or create your memories in some way. And plan ahead for the spring months to come. When you can take your learning experiences outdoors, into nature, a park, a playground, or a forest, the learning becomes much more real and profound.

Here are just a few inspiring books to read for the spring months ahead:

* Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring
* The Hidden Rainbow: A Springtime Book For Kids
* My Forest Is Green
* Make Art with Nature: Find Inspiration and Materials From Nature
* Backpack Explorer: On the Nature Trail
* Big Book of Nature Art
* Science in the Wild: Explore, Discover, and Learn from Nature

Happy homeschooling!

Ease Back into Homeschool with Art, Creativity, Writing, Fun, and Learning

After the winter break, it's helpful to gently ease back into your homeschool routines.
We started by taking time for art and creating the painting shown here. Not only was the painting fun to do, but we created stories inspired by the painting.

Art incorporates many different skills: creative thinking, critical thinking, reasoning skills, compositional skills, experimentation, decision-making skills, self-expression, and more. These are important skills that can be applied to all areas of a person's life, regardless of age or ability.

Encourage your children to play with paint, create with crayons, make marks with markers, as a way to express themselves. Sketch the views from windows, inside restaurants, or outdoors. Try keeping a Nature Journal or an Urban Sketchbook. Daily or weekly sketching can expand the mind in many ways and improve self-esteem.

Create stories from the art, too. Imagine scenarios that might be taking place within the artwork, and write a story about it. Writing is another form of self-expression, plus uses language skills, communication skills, spelling and vocabulary skills, boosting writing abilities and creativity.

Fearful that you won't be covering math, science, and social studies while creating art or writing stories? Art and writing include reasoning skills that math often requires, experimentation that science can require, critical thinking skills that social studies often requires.

Art and writing help to strengthen these skills. Your children can even compose "math stories" or "science stories" inspired by artwork, paintings, or illustrations they've created.

Have fun and enjoy experimenting! As always: When you enjoy what you're doing, the learning naturally occurs.

If interested in seeing my Nature-Inspired Paintings, please visit:

My Website: MistyGlowStudio.com

My Etsy shop: Etsy.com/Shop/MistyGlowStudio

My YouTube channel: YouTube.com/MistyGlowStudio

Happy homeschooling!