Maker Monday: Rain-Making Experiment

This fun and easy Maker Monday STEM project explains how rain is made. With shaving cream representing clouds and food coloring giving a visual of rain sinking through via gravity, kids can learn a lot about weather.

Before working on the Rain-Making Experiment, talk to your kids about the cycle of water — evaporation into the air, creating clouds, and how gravity returns the water back to the ground in the form of rain or snow. Explain how clouds are made up of tiny droplets of water or ice so insubstantial and light, they float in the air. When billions and billions of the droplets come together, they make clouds.

It might be fun to illustrate the cycle in a drawing. A fun, printer-friendly placemat for kids with more detailed information can be downloaded from the US Geological Survey website.

Supplies:

Clear glass or plastic jar

Shaving cream

Food coloring

Water

Fill the jar about 3/4 full with water. Add a layer of shaving cream on top. We found that if you make the shaving cream too thick, it takes a while for the “rain” to develop. Just an inch or two is plenty.

Dot the top of the shaving cream with food coloring.

Watch as the food coloring sinks through the “cloud” making trails of “rain” in the water.

For more Maker Monday projects and other fun stuff for kids, visit the Kidsburgh Activities page.