What Makes the Wind Blow? 25 Learn About Wind Activities

Ever wonder what makes the wind blow?  We just took a family outing to the Berkeley Kite Festival and were completely inspired to learn about wind.  Check out this video of the gorgeous octopus kites from the festival.

Why Does the Wind Blow?

Wind is the horizontal movement of air flowing from areas of higher pressure to lower pressure. The greater the difference in pressure, the higher the wind speed.

So what causes these pressure differentials?  It’s all about temperature.  The sun heats up the earth, which heats up the air over it.  The hotter air is less dense and begins to rise leaving a low pressure void over the earth.  But the temperature doesn’t rise as high over areas like oceans that can absorb more of the sun’s heat.  This creates the opposite situation, i.e. high atmospheric pressure over the oceans.  So the air flows from high pressure over the ocean to the lower pressure areas over land.  A similar process occurs on a larger scale with temperature differentials between the earth’s poles and equator.

What Makes the Wind Blow in a Particular Direction?

Three different forces influence the direction the wind blows.  The first is the Pressure Gradient Force which causes the air to move from an area of high pressure to low pressure.  The second is the Coriolis Force created by the earth’s rotation on its axis.  This causes things in the Northern Hemisphere to turn to the right and things to turn to the left in the Southern Hemisphere. The third force is Friction because the Earth is rough and mountains and valleys can alter the wind flow.  The sum of these forces determines the direction.

Wind Vocabulary

Did you know that those words you use to describe wind like breeze and gale have been defined by a scientist named Francis Beaufort?  He created a scale that classifies winds by their speed.  Wind is measured in knots, a measure of distance / time and can also be shown as miles per hour or kilometers per hour.  Here are a few of the Beaufort Scale classifications:

• Calm (< 1 mph)
• Light Breeze (4-7 mph)
• Fresh Breeze (18-24 mph)
• High Wind (31-38 mph)
• Gale (39-46 mph)
• Storm (55-63 mph)
• Hurricane (≥ 74 mph)

Now that we’re all wind smart, it’s time to play!

Wind  Arts and Crafts

• Rainbow Wind Sock from My Little 3 and Me
• Blow Painting from One Perfect Day
• Spring Garden Washer Wind Chime from One Time Through
• Cutlery Wind Chimes from Red Ted Art
• Paint a Rainbow Fan by Pink Stripey Socks
• Pinwheel Pencil Valentines from MomDot
• Milk Carton Windmill from Artists Helping Children
• Natural Wind Catcher from Inspiration Laboratories
• Farm Animal Wind Socks from Buggy and Buddy

Kite Fun

• Make a Beautiful Kite by The Journals of Giddy Giddy and featured on Red Ted Art
• Montessori-Inspired Kite Activities Using Free Printables by Living Montessori Now and featured on Pre-K + K Sharing
• Flying a Kite: Hands on Science from KC Edventures
• Go to a Kite Festival or Competition like we did.  The American Kiteflyers Association has a great calendar of kite events around the country.

Wind Science and Engineering

• Check the Weather.  For the older crowd, the free Wind Alert app lets you see the details of the wind around you like speed, direction and historical patterns.  It’ll help you pick the best location to fly a kite, too.
• Make an Anemometer (wind speed meter) with this easy tutorial from se7en.
• Wind Vane from Learning Ideas
• DIY Wind Car from Stir the Wonder
• Make a LEGO Turbine with parts from the Lego Education Tech Machines Set {affiliate}
• Visit a Science Museum.  Almost every science museum we’ve been to has a hands on wind activity.  To find a museum near you or next vacation, check out the Association of Science – Technology Centers Passport Program of global museums.
• Build a Miniature Turbine from Popular Mechanics

Wind Motor Skills Activities

• Learn Through Movement – Balloon Experiments from Mess for Less
• Using Scarves to Explore the Wind by Fun-A-Day via B-Inspired Mama
• Fly a kite.  I love this slightly smaller version of the octopus kite {affiliate} we saw at the Berkeley festival

Read About Wind

• One Windy Day by Tammi Salzano {affiliate} tells a silly story about a foxy mail carrier whose mail blows away.
• The Boy Who Harnassed the Wind by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer {affiliate} is an inspiring tale of an inventive boy from Malawi who uses wind to bring electricity to his village.
• Figure out which nose belongs to who in Windblown by Edouard Manceau {affiliate} by Edouard Manceau.  Boy Mama Teacher Mama has a great craft to go along with the book.
• The Wind Blew by Pat Hutchins {affiliate} by tells the fun story of how the wind blew so hard it blew everything away.
• The most important reading about wind you can do is information on winds that come with weather events like tornadoes and hurricanes.  Ready.gov has some great information to help you and your family be prepared.

What? Why? How? Answers For Curious Kids

Did you like learning the how’s and why’s of wind?  Check out the Left Brain Craft Brain What? How? Why? page for more answers for curious kids.