Cloud in a Jar Experiment for Kids

Clouds are magical for children. They’re just these big balls of fluff, floating around in the sky and children do not necessarily know how they’re formed. So they let their imaginations run wild and it opens up a whole new world for them. However, what if we told you that it is possible to concoct a cloud in a bottle, right inside the comfort of your home? The formation of clouds involves basic science and this science can be replicated in the classroom for your kids to enjoy and learn from. Read on to find out more about cloud in a jar science fair project which you can put together with some supplies.

How to Make Cloud in a Jar – Step by Step Procedure

Making a cloud in a jar might sound like black magic. It’s definitely magic for the kids who are watching you do it and produce a cloud out of thin air but even the science behind it is interesting. Read our article to find out about how you can put this together and the supplies that you might require.

Supplies

Some basic supplies that you might find in most stores close to your house can help you whip up a cloud, right in your living room. Here are some of them

• A mason jar or any other type of jar
• 1 cup of boiling hot water
• Food colouring, ideally blue
• Hairspray
• A few cubes of ice

Instructions

• Use the boiling hot water and pour it into the mason jar or any other type of jar that you have at home.
• You can choose to put the food colouring because it provides water with the appearance of the sky. It also helps differentiate between the cloud and water.
• Pick up the hairspray and spray it quickly into the jar.
• Close the jar with the lid right after spraying. This must be done quickly, so keep the lid handy.
• Place the ice cubes on top of the lid while the jar is closed.
• If you observe the top of the jar carefully, you’ll notice a cloud beginning to form.
• Once you have seen it form, unscrew the lid and remove it to see the cloud move out of the jar.

In case you feel like textual instructions are not clear enough, we also have a video representation to help you out. Click here to watch the video on how to do it.

Cloud in a Jar Activity – Understanding the Science Behind This

• The cloud in a jar with hairspray activity is loved by kids because it is so simple to execute. However, you can turn this experiment into a learning opportunity for the kids by explaining to them the science behind how this experiment works. Clouds form when the water on the earth’s surface is heated and evaporates. This is where the matter changes from liquid to gas, it rises up the atmosphere and cools because of the lower temperatures. This causes it to condense, or change from gas to liquid form, onto microscopic particles in the air.
• In the experiment, When hot water was poured inside the jar, the heat causes the air inside the jar to heat up. Due to the heat, some of the water inside evaporated into the air. This led to water vapour in the jar and caused it to rise up. Once the vapour reached the top of the jar, it began to cool down due to the ice and change in temperature. The vapour then cooled and condensed onto the hairspray particles. This is what led to the formation of a cloud inside the jar.
• You must look inside the jar carefully as when the cloud is being formed, you will notice that it forms swirls inside the jar. This is caused due to the mixture of the warm air that is rising with the cool air that is descending and is known as a convection current. This experiment, although easy to execute, provides kids with not only a fun activity but also provides them with knowledge in a fun way that will help them remember it for the rest of their days. Involving the element of fun is a great way to keep children intrigued and to get them to learn with great interest. Traditional classroom methods can get tedious for them and so conducting an experiment and showing them how things work is a great motivator.
• You can also choose to switch between warm and cold water to make kids understand the relationship that they share and how both are required in order to create a cloud. Ideally, you’d want to show the kids this experiment in a slightly darker place so that they can see the cloud forming and escaping the jar.
• Kids are very curious and want to learn if the learning method that is employed is refreshing and piques their interest. Make sure to include fun ways to learn in the classroom or at home to preserve your child’s wonder and excitement. We hope you learnt something from this experiment and truly hope your kids love it!

Also Read:

Science Experiments for Children
Magnet Experiments and Activities for Children
Walking Rainbow Water Experiment for Children