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How to Make a Cloud in a Jar

April 13, 2015 by OneMommy

 

We’ve started a weather unit in homeschool, and this week we are focusing on clouds.  After reading about how clouds form, we decided to do our own experiment and make a cloud in a jar.  It was so much fun the kids begged to do it several times.

Ready to impress the kids this week?  Make your own cloud!

Make a cloud in a jar! Fun kid science

 

Materials Needed to Make a Cloud in a Jar:

  • Clear glass jar with a lid
  • Ice Cubes
  • Hot Water
  • Aerosol Spray (We used hairspray.)

 

To form your own cloud, pour an inch or two of very hot water (I microwaved a coffee mug full for 2 minutes.) into your empty jar.

Swirl the hot water around a bit to warm up the jar’s sides.

Next, place the jar’s lid over the opening, upside-down, and place several ice cubes on top of the lid.

making a cloud in a jar

 

 

Wait 30 seconds and then remove the lid and spray a quick spurt of your aerosol into the jar.  Quickly cover the jar and watch your cloud form!

 

cloud in jar experiment

 

It is really hard to see the cloud in the pictures, but, we took the lid off to “let our cloud free.”  This was my daughter’s favorite part!

 

kid science experiment: cloud in a jar

 

 

So, why does it work?

For clouds to form, they need three things:

  • warm, moist air   (provided by the hot water trapped inside the jar)
  • cooling, which causes the moisture to lift (provided by the ice cubes)
  • small particles in the air for the moisture to condense on (in our case it was hair spray, but usually it is dust, smoke, pollution…)

 

If you like this Cloud in a Jar experiment, you’ll also like:

  • Make a Shaving Cream Rain Cloud
  • Make a Wind Meter
  • Make a Tornado in a Jar

 

Filed Under: Science Tagged With: cloud, science experiment, weather unit

Comments

  1. Deborah from Mommy Crusader says

    April 14, 2015 at 12:34 pm

    This is a great science activity. We will be trying this out! Thank you so much for the idea. 🙂

    • OneMommy says

      April 15, 2015 at 10:27 pm

      They really enjoyed this one; I hope yours do too!

  2. susen @Dabbling Momma says

    April 14, 2015 at 10:46 pm

    very cool!

    • OneMommy says

      April 15, 2015 at 10:27 pm

      It really had them interested. They asked to do it several times.

  3. Leslie says

    April 17, 2015 at 11:27 pm

    This looks like such a fun activity! Pinning!

    • OneMommy says

      April 22, 2015 at 4:45 pm

      It really was!

      Thanks for pinning!

  4. Amanda Jones says

    April 18, 2015 at 12:06 pm

    I loved this and pinned it to use next week! Thank you for sharing 🙂

    • OneMommy says

      April 22, 2015 at 4:46 pm

      I hope you have as much fun with it as we did!

      Thanks for pinning!

  5. Nicole says

    April 19, 2015 at 11:42 am

    Oh this is so cool. A couple of years ago when my daughter was about 2, we made up a song about clouds that we saw in the sky and read the book: Little Cloud by Eric Carle. She was SO into clouds and still is. Definitely need to pin this and revisit are cloud explorations! Thanks for sharing! Found you on Share it Saturday.

    • OneMommy says

      April 24, 2015 at 10:58 pm

      I hope she has as much fun with it as we did! 🙂

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