How would/did you explain thunder to a 3 year old? And I don’t want the whole God is bowling one. He likes the actual facts about things.
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I mean you answered your own question. He like the facts. When my son asks me a question like this I like to look up children’s educational videos on YouTube and watch them with him. I honestly prefer this method over making up stories. I think people forget that children at that age are amazing learning sponges.
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“How do I explain thunder to my toddler? He only wants facts so no other suggestions!”
Did you just answer your own question?
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When I was little, someone once told me that rain was God peeing, lightning was him pooping and thunder was him farting 
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I used to say its the rain clouds bumping into each other
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I tell mine the clouds are bumping into each other lol
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Thunder is the sound of lightning. That’s what I have told my 2 yr old.
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Im sure some show on pbs covers this. Were my kids learn alot just from that its free to stream… So id Google to see what i could find. My older kids look at brain pop too but that might just the something the school offers them. Watch it with them too!
I tell her that the sky is trying to tell us something. That eventually we’ll find out what it is: will it rain? storm? is it just the sky being frisky?
it’s mysterious. You can do the whole science thing too amnd def add some love to it.
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The little elves are bowling inthe sky and mad a strike!
Give him the actual facts, just put them in the best way you think a 3 year old can understand it
Tell him the facts, that’s what you said he wanted to hear. Maybe Google it and show him some pictures. Inquiring minds want to know.
Try a science for toddlers book or two about weather!
Sometimes the sky talks & that’s the sound it makes.
Simply put… Thunder is the sound that lightning makes.
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Explain exactly what it is. My sons asks what everything is and I’ll tell him.
Clouds clapping together. And that’s true in a way
My nearly 3yo loves thunder we just told her the lightning makes it crash
Tell him the clouds are bumping in to each other and making a dangling sound and the lightning is the clouds sparking while they bump in to each other . A little over simplified but still kind of accurate
Thunder is when clouds bump into each other
What Makes Thunder and Lightning for Children: 60 Second Science Questions for Kids.
On youtube
A lot of you need to go back and refresh yourself on what this page is supposed to be about! I forgot y’all have turn into stuck up people
So, Google how thunder is made and give him the facts homegirl lol.
You could just say you want him to have facts and not the cute stories people use. A 3 year old doesn’t understand nor know the difference between the truth and fables.
If he -needs- the truth then tell him. Start doing research: Thunder is created when lightning passes through the air and heats it up, expanding it.
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It’s the sound of lighting.
Tell him the truth. If you don’t remember look it up.
When my kid asks me something I’m not sure how to answer I sit her down and google it on my phone with her. That way she realizes that maybe I don’t know everything but I know how to find out for us
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There are amazing videos on YouTube that are for kids that can explain science side of things my kids love watching them my 6 year old loves space stuff and things about extreme weather he knows a lot about tornadoes different plants black holes thunder lightning
Show him or her static electric in with a balloon and their hair, then explain how eventually static electric can build up to a thunderstorm and where are the safe places to hide
Thunder is the sound of lightning breaking the sound barrier. Super simple lol lighting is the flash, thunder is the boom.
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I told my son God was bowling. Lol. It worked!
It’s Mother Nature. When it gets super windy and raining the earth creates thunder to add in the mix.
You answered your own question. 
if he likes facts, then give him the actual fact about it. Not that hard.
Google it and sit down and discuss in terms the child will understand.
I told both my kids it’s the sound lightening makes when it strikes. Which is true lol.
Then tell him what it’s from…lol why would you ask for ways to tell him, but he wants the truth…ask Google. Lol
Google it and tell him the facts.
Thunder is the sound that lightening makes when it strikes!
Brain candy tv on you tube has a episode on weather
Thunder is the sound lighting makes.
Copied from Google.
The temperature of the air in the lightning channel may reach as high as 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit, 5 times hotter than the surface of the sun. Immediately after the flash, the air cools and contracts quickly. This rapid expansion and contraction creates the sound wave that we hear as thunder.
My mom would tell me it’s God bowling and the loud boom is when he makes a strike haha it worked
When my 4yr old asks questions idk how to answer for her age level I find a YouTube video that explains and has the visuals. Most recent was why snakes shed their skin. There are a TON of channels aimed towards toddlers and younger kids that give facts at their levels and the visuals help them retain it I thibk
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According to scientific American…
Thunder is caused by lightning, which is essentially a stream of electrons flowing between or within clouds, or between a cloud and the ground. The air surrounding the electron stream is heated to as hot as 50,000 degrees Farhenheit, which is three times hotter than the surface of the sun. As the superheated air cools it produces a resonating tube of partial vacuum surrounding the lightning’s path. The nearby air rapidly expands and contracts. This causes the column to vibrate like a tubular drum head and produces a tremendous crack. As the vibrations gradually die out, the sound echoes and reverberates, generating the rumbling we call thunder. We can hear the thundering booms 10 miles or more distant from the lightning that caused it.,…
Probably wouldn’t understand (but maybe he will) being three and all, but that’s what causes thunder… I know it’s probably not helpful. But I was told it was two clouds hitting each other…
If he likes facts about things then tell him what Thunder actually is lol.
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