Making paper boats and racing them, reciting rain poems, dressing up umbrellas or learning about the different types of clouds — the season’s second-rainiest day was a day of fun for children who made it to their classrooms on Tuesday.

Some schools declared a holiday, some gave over early, while others engaged students in rain-related activities from art and craft to safety tips.

Five-year-old Hallan Hart, a kindergarten student at St. James’ School, was delighted when the teacher took him and his friends for a walk around the courtyard in the rain.

“When it’s raining I don’t like to stay in class,” Hallan declared to his teacher as he put on his raincoat and picked up his umbrella. Back in class, the boys made paper boats and recited poems such as Row, row, row your boat and Rain, rain go away.

At La Martiniere for Girls, the children drew umbrellas and raindrops. “We plan our timetable according to the seasons and during this time the children make colourful boats with newspapers. It is the right time to talk to them about the things we use during the rainy season,” said Debjani Rudra, the head of the school’s pre-primary section. The school also allowed parents to take students home early.

Apeejay School, Park Street, St. Thomas’ Boys’ School, St. Thomas’ Girls’ School and National Gems Higher Secondary School declared a holiday.

“Several parents called up teachers to say that it was difficult to step out because of waterlogging. So we declared a holiday on the Park Street campus, but not at Salt Lake, where most of the students are from neighbouring areas,” said principal Reeta Chatterjee.

The senior section at Mahadevi Birla World Academy, on the other hand, gave over two hours early. “Given the condition of roads, we were doubtful if the buses that leave school with pre-primary students at 12.30pm would be able to return by 2.30pm for the seniors,” principal Anjana Saha said.

Even schools like St. James’ and DPS-New Town that remained open recorded only 50 per cent attendance. Rain remained pretty much the topic of the day in schools. Pre-primary kids at South City International School tried their hand at Origami ducks, LKG kids at Delhi Public School-Ruby Park made monsoon insects, fruits and flowers with clay while UKG and Class I children enjoyed a story-telling session and watched an animation film.

“We narrated stories on clouds and named the thundercloud demon cloud and the feathery cloud lazy cloud. This helped them learn about the water cycle and the different clouds without their geographic names,” said Anusree Ghose, the principal of the junior school at DPS-Ruby Park.

Monsoon masti invaded classrooms a week ago with Mahadevi Birla girls designing umbrellas and kids at The Heritage School making their own rain gauge.

It was not only about romancing the rains, students had their dose of reality too.

Students of Class V at Mahadevi Birla Academy were asked to write about “Monsoon in the City of Joy” while Class XII students from business studies and economics streams made a presentation on the impact of monsoon on the textile industry.

The Class IV boys at St. James’ were told how only 15 children could attend evening school on Monday as their neighbourhoods were flooded. DPS-Ruby Park teachers shared with students safety tips such as avoiding manholes and taking a bath if drenched in rain.