Materials
Thinned tempera paint, any color Tornado tube or tornado pictures
Paper plates
Eyedroppers
Lettuce spinner with lid
Instructions
1. Thin the tempera paint until watery. Set out the materials on a table.
2. Discuss tornadoes, including how they are formed and how we can find safety from them.Emphasize that winds swirl around very fast creating a tunnel. Demonstrate using the tornadotube or show pictures of tornadoes.
3. To make tornado art, have the children place a paper plate into the bottom of the lettucespinner. (Some spinners have a point in the center that will hold the plate in place. If that isthe case, punch a hole through the center of eachplate with pencil.)4. Using the water droppers, children "dot" paint allover the plate. Place the lid on top, and have themspin it fast for several seconds. Open it up to see how it looks. Add more dropsof paint if desired.
5. Invite the children to chant while spinning:Round and round and round it goes,Where it stops, no one knows.Twister, twister in a pot,Let's open it up and see what we've got!More to doArt: Place a paper plate with a hole in the center onto an old phonograph. Turn it so that theplate rotates around. Hold a marker, pressing lightly, onto the paper plate to make "swirlies" likea tornado. Demonstrate how you can move your hand just a little bit and the "swirlies" changesize.Field trip: Call the local news station and ask if a meteorologist would be able to show theclass the machines and tools used to predict the weather.Sand and water table: Put water and funnels in the water table. Show the children how waterdrains from the funnel in a circular motion by placing a small leaf on top. The leaf will rotate asthe water drains out the bottom.
