One of the reasons that I love teaching primary science, is because there are so many opportunities to do super fun and engaging experiments. Weather is one of the greatest units for this! One of the primary science weather experiments that I love to do with my kiddos is creating a rain cloud in a jar and in this post I am going to share the step by step instructions to create this experiment! Follow along for instructions on creating the primary science weather experiment, a rain cloud in a jar!
Rain Cloud in a Jar Ingredients:
- Clear Glass Jar
- Shaving Cream ( I got mine from the Dollar Store!)
- Eye Dropper or syringe
- Food coloring
- Water
Step 1:
First, fill your glass jar 3/4 full with water.
Step 2:
Then, use the shaving cream to simulate a cloud at the top of the jar. Fill the shaving cream to the top of the container. This is a little tricky, but can be done!
Step 3:
Next, mix a small amount of water with blue food coloring in a small container. Fill the eye dropper with this blue dyed water and slowly drop blue dye drops onto the cloud.
Step 4:
Observe under the cloud as you continue to release dye drops onto the cloud. You will begin to see the dyed water drop down from the cloud like rain drops because the shaving cream cloud becomes too heavy/saturated with dye drops (aka rain).
Step 5:
Finally, enjoy the rain cloud as it releases the rain drops into the jar and you have completed the experiment!
The Science Behind the Experiment:
This science experiment simulates how a rain cloud eventually releases rain. The shaving cream acts as a rain cloud by holding the dyed water (rain) as it builds up in the cloud. Rain builds in a cloud through water evaporation, and humidity building up in the air, etc. When the rain cloud holds as much water as it can and becomes too heavy, it releases the water as precipitation. This can be released as rain, snow, hail or sleet. When the shaving cream cloud holds the maximum amount of water that it can hold, it slowly begins to release the water into the jar.
Your Turn!
Try this fun and engaging rain cloud activity with your class or children and come back to share how it works! I hope you have as much fun making this as we did! This is just one of many weather science experiments you can try with your kids that can be found in my Weather Science unit. If you love science but don’t love the planning, you might also love this Primary Science bundle. It includes 9 science units that have lessons, experiments, home projects, activity worksheets and more. It may be exactly what you have been waiting for!
No Comments