Butterfly's Weather
Weather words, and what to wear: sunny and rainy, windy and calm, hot and cold
How it plays
Ruby Roo asks a question and two pictures appear. First the weather words: which one is sunny, which one is windy, which one is cold? Then what to wear: it's raining, so what should Butterfly wear, a raincoat or a sunhat? A right tap says why ("Slop on some sunscreen"); the other tap names what it shows and asks again. The sun-safety answers follow the Cancer Council's Slip, Slop, Slap, Seek, Slide.
What it's for
Weather words, and what to wear: sunny and rainy, windy and calm, hot and cold. It adapts as your child plays: after a few rounds that go well it steps up a little, and after a couple of hard ones it quietly steps back. The level number only ever goes up.
There is no score to lose and no way to fail. A wrong move is met with a gentle nudge, and a level ends when it's won.
Away from the screen: Dress the weather
About two minutes, with things most homes have.
- Look out of the window together: what's the weather like?
- Pick clothes for it from the cupboard: a hat and sunscreen for sun, a raincoat for rain, a jumper for cold.
- Try a silly one: what would you wear if it were snowing AND sunny?
Three questions to ask while they play
- What's the weather like right now?
- What would you wear on a windy day?
- Why do we wear a hat in the sun?
Play together
Things to say or ask
- What's the weather like outside right now?
- What would you wear today?
- Is it windy? Let's look at the trees.
Taking turns on one device: One player looks out the window and says the weather; the other taps the picture. Swap.
Talk-about cards: a question a day for a week, for the car or the dinner table. Print them, or read them from your phone.
If they find it hard
Slip, Slop, Slap, Seek, Slide: a shirt, sunscreen, a hat, shade and sunglasses. Say it together as you get ready to go out. Or try Lorikeet's Opposites first: pairs of opposite words with pictures, before weather and clothes.
A sheet to print
Print the Butterfly's Weather sheet
One A4 page, in black and white or colour.
From two to eight
Tiny Steps: made for two- and three-year-olds too. With Tiny Steps on, it stays on its gentlest level, a not-yet tap is never counted, and there's nothing to read.
Switch Tiny Steps or Big Steps on in Who's playing?, on the grown-ups' page.
What it practises
- Weather and seasons. Noticing the weather each day and how it changes with the seasons, and what to wear for it.
AC9S1U02 (Science, Year 1) - New words. Meeting and using everyday words.
AC9EFLA08 (English, Foundation); EYLF 5.1 (Early Years Learning Framework V2.0) - Opposites. Knowing words in pairs that mean the opposite: big and small, up and down, in and out.
AC9EFLA08 (English, Foundation); AC9MFSP02 (Mathematics, Foundation); AC9MFM01 (Mathematics, Foundation)
The codes are from the Early Years Learning Framework V2.0 (for three- to five-year-olds) and the Australian Curriculum v9 (Foundation to Year 2). Each links to the official wording. Every skill, and the games for it.
What it costs, and what we collect
Nothing, and nothing. There is no account, no advertising and no tracking of any kind. Which games have been played is remembered on your own device and is never sent anywhere. The full version is here, and it's short.
Where it lives
Butterfly's Weather lives in The Bright Spot — shapes, colours and noticing. It works on a phone, a tablet or a classroom screen, and once it's been opened it keeps working with no signal at all.