Our Preschool class explored the science behind clouds through this engaging sensory process!
The Book and the Activity
Miss Kaylin introduced clouds by reading “Cloudette” by Tom Lichtenheld. You could also read “Little Cloud” by Eric Carle! Both are favorites in our classroom. There were many cloud related centers set up that day, but the most exciting one to me was the cloud sensory center. As you can see from the photo above, each child had a choice of how they were going to pick up their dry cotton ball – which were clouds in this case. They could also use the droppers to add their “rain”.
Once the moisture was added to the cloud, they could squeeze the water out to simulate rain! With all the options they had, most students chose to use their hands for everything. Using their fingers to squeeze the clouds still helps exercise the muscles in their hands!
Overall, this was a very interesting experience for the Preschool class. They loved the hands on exploration of this science process.
After you try this project, your students can play in the rain like ours did!
Links to grow on…
We’ve done other cloud activities in the past which can be found below!
Clouds in jars and on the table top too!
Welcome to the world of learning. I never have a day go by that I don’t learn or am
taught something by someone else. Even the little people teach me so much, I
often wonder where they learnt all those amazing things.
Did this project leave little hands quite blue? What did you use to dye the water? I love this simple idea!
Hi Nicole, Not at all. We simply put a few drops of blue liquid watercolor in water. The liquid water color does a great job coloring the water without staining hands.
[…] Explore the Science Behind Clouds by Teach Preschool – Make your own little rainclouds using cotton balls and a little food coloring. A perfect introduction to a weather or rain theme! […]