This Rain Craft for Preschoolers is a Fun Hole-Punching Activity Too

Inside: this preschool rain craft sneaks in some fine motor work and hand strengthening with a hole punch, plus it looks super cute when you add photos of your kids holding an umbrella.

rain craft for preschoolers shown with hole punched paper

If you’re looking for a fun spring craft that has an element of process art, or just a rainy day craft, look no further. This activity would also go well with a preschool weather unit.

(And if you’re doing a weather unit, be sure to check out the Weather Alphabet Worksheets over in my store, along with these cute, free umbrella tracing worksheets from ABCs of Literacy!)

Rain Craft for Preschoolers

Little kids who love getting to use a hole punch will adore this rain craft. They can just punch and punch to make lots of raindrops.

No, they won’t have to glue on the little punched paper bits, though. I came up with a more preschool-friendly method for you.

Materials

Here’s what you’ll need:

  • Light blue paper
  • Dark blue paper

(I used craft paper and Astrobrite paper here, but construction paper would be fine too)

  • Scissors
  • Hole punch (make sure it is a finger-safe one)
  • Glue stick
  • Silver permanent marker or white crayon (optional)
  • Cotton balls
  • Photo of each child (see below)

Preparation

Your rain craft will go a little more smoothly if you do a few steps ahead of time:

  • Take a photo of each child. You can have them pose with an umbrella and/or wear a raincoat and boots. Or, you could just have them standing holding their palms up as if they’re feeling the raindrops.
smiling little girl holding a pink umbrella and wearing a pink raincoat and boots
  • Print out the photos so that they are sized for the paper you’ll be using. The child (not the whole photo – just the child) should be about half the height of the paper.
  • If your kids are still working on their scissors skills you’ll also want to go ahead and cut out the picture so they’re ready to glue onto the collage.
  • Trim your paper so that the light blue and dark blue are the same sizes. I used a 6-inch square sheet of paper, but you can use whatever size you like.
  • Next, cut the light blue paper into strips that are 1.5 to 2 inches wide.
  • You may also want to cut out dark blue “puddles” ahead of time, depending on your kids’ abilities.

Craft Instructions

The child-centered part of this craft is pretty simple. The hardest part for little hands is gluing the strips down so that they overlap neatly.

  1. Use the hole punch to punch holes on each paper strip. Leave the bottom (where you’re holding it) unpunched.
  2. Apply glue to the back of each strip and stick it onto the dark blue paper.
strip of light blue paper with holes punched in it and a glue stick next to it. Background shows similar paper strips glued down onto a dark blue background.
  1. Glue on a blue paper puddle and cotton ball rain clouds.
rain craft with hole punched rain, a puddle, and cotton ball clouds
  1. Write the child’s name on the puddle – or you could write “R is for Rain”.
rain craft with hole punched rain, a puddle with a name written on it, and cotton ball clouds
  1. Finally, glue on your photo. So cute!
rain craft with hole punched rain, a puddle, cotton ball clouds, and a cutout photo of a girl holding an umbrella

How to Make a Rain Craft Bulletin Board Display

I think a group of these would make an adorable March or April bulletin board or hallway display, don’t you?

If that’s your plan, then here are a few tips and ideas.

  • Use a variety of colors of umbrellas to get a prettier display.
  • Be sure to think about the size of your bulletin board or display space before you choose a paper size for the craft.
  • Use a polka dot or confetti dot paper for your background (affiliate)
  • Add some texture with a raindrop garland (like this one – affiliate)

Also, here are some possible bulletin board headings:

  • We Love the Rain!
  • April Showers Bring May Flowers
  • Let it Rain!
  • Ready for Rain!
  • When life gives your rain, jump in the puddles!
  • We’re ready to look for rainbows! [I’d put a big rainbow – like this one (affiliate) – across the top]

(Disclosure: Books and Giggles is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.)

Extend the Learning

You could talk and read about the months and seasons, and about when it rains most often where you live. Perhaps teach the rhyme “April showers bring May flowers.”

I wrote up a whole list of weather books that you can take a look at, but here are a few additional books about rain that have been published more recently:

After the Rain book cover

After the Rain by Rebecca Koehn (illustrated by Simone Krüger) – a boy and girl learn how to work together when the rain goes away.

I Don't Like Rain book cover

I Don’t Like Rain! by Sarah Dillard is a graphic novel style picture book about a bunny who learns he doesn’t like the rain, until he discovers puddles and a rainbow.

You might also like to add some music and movement into your rain lessons. I adore these children’s rain songs from Let’s Play Music. Follow her links and you’ll see a video that will play the tune for you.

You could do a few simple science activities too:

  • Observe puddles drying up and talk about where the water went.
  • Make a rain gauge and record measurements.
  • Give some plants rain and keep others dry. Compare them to demonstrate that plants need water to live and grow.

Also, if your kids are still craving more time with the hole puncher, they might enjoy this printable activity for the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Finally, here are those Weather Theme Alphabet Worksheets I mentioned above:

weather theme alphabet worksheets

I hope your kiddos love their hole punching rain craft!

rain craft and title "Rainy Day Hole Punching Craft"

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