"Rain Is Falling"

Is has been raining here.  And this made me break out my rain cloud.  I made this 10-12 years ago and so my directions on how to make it may be a little vague.  Also, the prop is not in perfect condition anymore, but I think it has held up pretty well considering its age! :)

Here is what it looks like.  It's pretty big in size (see measurements below) and you use it by sticking the nozzle of the spray bottle through the hole from the back and spraying.  

I use it as a wiggle song.  To get the children's attention first I usually walk around the room spraying the bottle.  If they are not paying attention, they sure will be when they feel the mist of water! (I use the mist setting on the bottle.)  Then I ask about it raining and if they saw, felt, heard the rain lately... Then I start to sing "Rain is Falling"  I usually have to sing it a couple times to get through the whole primary room.

 

 Here are the rough dimensions of the cloud and dowels used to hold it up.  I hand sketched a cloud from a poster board and then cut it out.  I then used a long dowel (just under .5" thickness) and cut it to fit the cloud.  I then hot glued the dowels to the poster board.  I also cut a hole to fit the nozzle through. (see dimensions above for my cloud)

 

 I also used hot glue around the edge of the hole so that the water would be repelled a bit and wouldn't warp the poster.  It has definitely done the trick!

 

For the front, I used batting.  I hot glued it on making sure to leave bumps and billows in the middle section to make it look fluffy.  Then trim around the edge and you have it- your own rain cloud!