13 Best Weather Charts For Toddlers + Preschool [Wooden, PDF, Classroom Picks!]

When it comes to selecting the best weather charts for toddlers there are loads of things to consider depending on the climate you live, how detailed you want the weather to be, or if you prefer a more calendar and weatherboard for preschool circle time setup.

Below you'll discover our top picks from wooden weather stations, to magnetic and felt, and printable weather chart PDFs that are still interactive. We'll also look at daily weather charts for preschool and kindergarten classrooms and how to choose which one suits your needs best!

Best Wooden Weather Stations:

Tender Leaf Toys – Weather Watch

Probably my personal favorite weather chart on this list is the Tender Leaf Toys wooden weather board.

At the base, are wooden picture board magnets for the daily weather showcasing clouds, rainbows, rain, storm, lighting, and more. The bottom right showcases wind shield all with a handy cotton canvas bag for safe keeping.

It's one of the more comprehensive, beautiful, and quality boards on this list.

Wooden Weather Toy By Pottery Barn

Pottery Barn's wooden weather toy is a great affordable option (on sale for under $25!)

While it's a little dull on the imagery, as a toddler mom, I can appreciate it's one piece – meaning you don't need to worry about losing anything.

Moon Picnic My Weather Station

Moon Picnic's wooden weather station is a fun arch design with modern art. On the board, you'll find a gauge for temperature, wind, and humidity.

I would prefer to see an actual “wetness” gauge and then the section with the weather imagery separate given that it can literally be a torrential downpour with inches of rain on a sunny South Florida day.

Lovevery's Plan Ahead Weather Board

In Lovevery's The Observer Play Kit you'll find the Plan Ahead Weather Board which is a gorgeous Waldorf aligned wooden weather station for toddlers.

While this weatherboard is only available in the Lovevery play kit, it does come with some other great toys that we found worthwhile. You can find my full review here.

inamio Magnetic Weather Chart for Kids

Inamio's magnetic weather chart for preschoolers and toddlers is a great affordable option.

Overall, we'd have to say this is one of the most complete weatherboard options for under $20.

Sweetpea & Maple My First Daily Magnetic Learning Calendar For Kids

This daily learning calendar combines aspects of a weather board with daily circle time components like the month, day of the week, etc.

Since it's magnetic, it can be used on the fridge and serve as daily reminder while eating breakfast to talk about the type of day it is and plan for the day.

Little Folk Visuals Wally The Weather Dog Felt Board Figures

While Little Folks Visuals Weather Dog is not an officially weatherboard, it does include all of the necessary felt cut outs to use on a felt board to create a daily weatherboard set up.

Additionally, the set features the following weather imagery: 3 suns, 3 clouds, 3 rain clusters, 3 snowflakes, 3 wind, 2 thunder and lightning clouds, and 1 rainbow so if the weather is the same across the three days you'll have enough pieces!

Godery Calendar and Weather Pocket Chart, Classroom Organized Chart

This large weather and calendar learning station is great for preschool classrooms thanks to it's durable pocket design.

There's also 14 customizable dry erase card and storage pockets at the base of the calendar and weather board.

KIKIGOAL Circle Time Center Classroom Pocket Chart

The KIGIGoal Circle Time Center chart is probably one of the most popular for preschool classrooms thanks to its circle time centric features like a letter, color, shape, and rhyme of the day.

Lastly, there's a section that focuses on counting making this durable classroom calendar and weatherboard a top pick, even if it isn't the deepest dive into weather.

WATINC My First Daily Calendar Felt-Board for Kids

The WATINC Daily Calendar Felt Board comes in at 3.5 ft wide, making it a great preschool early learning center for a classroom wall.

WhimsyPrintablesShop Weather Station

WhimsyPrintablesShop weather station is an adorable interactive printable weather station.

Beyond a printer, you'll need little brads to add the turnstyle pieces. But we think it's a beautiful affordable option!

Montessori ish

Montessori-ish's printable interactive weather station for toddlers + preschoolers is great for homes or circle time. It features an arched design with the upper section depicting sunny, cloudy, rainy, or snowy and a dial the child can set.

Lastly, it features beautiful cards for the season with nature imagery bringing the seasonal word to life.

ArrowsAndApplesauce Montessori Activity Set

Arrows + Applesauce's Montessori Weather Activity Set is a fun printable weather station set.

Then you also get weather cards for matching and learning language as well as other homeschool montessori inspired activities. The imagery features beautiful water color designs and is sure to make any Montessori or Waldorf environment proud.

DabbleRoutines

If you want a hybrid between a printable weatherboard and a planning your day circle time board, then DabbleRoutine has a great option for you!

This set does require you to print and cut lots of small pieces, so you'll want a bag for switching out all the different elements. It uses a stick on design, so you may need velcro or some other stick on method.

How To Choose The Best Weather Chart For Toddlers + Preschoolers

Learning Concepts

Deciding which learning concepts you want a weatherboard to cover for your toddler will ultimately be the largest deciding factor in selecting a weather chart in our experience.

There are two main types of weather boards on the market, those that focus solely on weather and those that focus on weather and planning the day.

Sole Weather Focus:

If opting for a sole weather focus, below are the common concepts you can find on a weather only board. Selecting which one's matter or don't matter to you before shopping can narrow the options:

• Temperature gauge
• Wetness indicator
• Humidity
• Wind factor
• Overall weather
• Phases of the moon
• Today/yesterday/tomorrow depiction
• Season

Some weather boards have these things, others don't. Living in Florida, I don't mind if a weather chart forgot snow, but do care about a wetness gauge as our seasons go through periods where it does rain everyday, but not all day every day, thus knowing how wet it'll be is more important to me in teaching a toddler how to get dressed.

Daily planning + Weather Criteria:

A lot of weather charts are really hybrids with calendars. These don't go into as much detail on weather, but rather focus on teaching other concepts as well which may be beneficial in a classroom or homeschool environment. Here are some common things you can find on these sort of hybrid boards:

• Day of the week
• Date
• Holidays
• Overall/general weather
• Letter/color/shape of the day

Material

Weather charts come in a variety of materials. The most non toxic are generally wooden or printable PDFs.

You can also find magnetic or felt one's as well as extremely durable pocket designed one's. The latter option is generally best for preschool or kindergarten classrooms.

Play

We all know kids learn through play based learning! Some weather charts include dolls or figures you can “get dressed” based on the weather.

Parents and teachers can also use these loose pieces to have the child set up scene and match the appropriate weather to the season or weather of the daily.

Interactivity

Generally speaking, all weatherboards are interactive.

However there are different types of motor skills involved. Typically felt or magnetic weather charts will just have you pulling and sticking on the various pieces.

Wooden or printable weatherboards often use a turn dial or slider.

Lastly, fabric and pockets designs require children to use precision at fitting teh cards into the slots.

Storage

Calendar and weather charts often have a lot of unused pieces. Ideally look for something with storage and consider how you'll replace missing pieces.

Some options, like Lovevery's have smart storage where the unused pieces are stored behind the one's in use. Others like this one use pockets at the bottom. Magnetic ones typically allow you to add the unused pieces to a secondary board.

FAQs About Weather Charts

How do I teach my toddler the weather?

When it comes to teaching young toddlers about the weather, the first place to start is simply by narrating out loud the weather throughout the day.

For instance, as you get dressed in the morning say, “Hmm, what should I wear today? Let me look outside! Oh it looks like there are some dark grey clouds which means rain, let me grab a raincoat.”

The younger you start this, the better. From there see the next question below:

How do you explain weather to preschoolers?

When introducing weather to preschoolers or toddlers the easiest place to start is just noticing the weather aloud throughout the day and then pairing that with a visual daily weather chart.

You may even want to look up the weather together on your phone each morning, then set a daily weather chart together.

What is a daily weather chart + how do you use it?

A daily weather chart is basically a board with various elements about the weather on it. At the simplest level you'll have a spot for setting the overall weather of the day like “sunny” or “rainy.”

If you want to dive deeper you can get into temperature, wind, humidity and wetness gauges as well as phases of the moon.

To use it, basically each day – and potentially throughout the day – you simply look and go outside to get a feel for the weather, then visit the weather station with your toddler and set the information accordingly. Additionally, you can teach older toddlers or kindergartener's how to look up information (e.g. wind factor or humidity) to set the weatherboard that way.

What are the benefits of weatherboards?

Weatherboards teach children how to read and predict local weather trends. This information can then be used to make appropriate clothing choices or pick appropriate activities for the day.

How do you make a simple weather chart?

The simplest way to create a weather chart for toddlers or kindergarten is to purchase one of the printable weather charts mentioned above. Each one has its own directions.

I love this option because each child can then make their own chart, and set the weather themselves as if they were home versus a large classroom one where only one or two children may get the chance to interact with it daily.

Final Thoughts

What is the best weather station for toddlers you can buy?

I personally love the Tender Leaf Toys wooden weather board because it has a spot for the phases of the moon, wetness and wind indicators, temperature gauges, and daily weather settings. With that said, the Inamio's magnetic weather chart for preschoolers and toddlers is a great affordable option that also showcases similar features.

For preschool and kindergarten classrooms I'm a big fan of Godery Calendar and Weather Pocket Chart for a more calendar focus or the KIKIGOAL Classroom Pocket Chart for a more circle time focus.

As far as printable PDF weather charts, I love WhimsyPrintablesShop Weather Station for its unique interactive features and beautiful design. Plus it's super affordable!