Teach science for kids with free clouds activities, resources and videos. Here are 23 smart activities to teach clouds and the types of clouds. These clouds for kids resources cover printables, experiments, websites, songs and videos along with art projects and a fun cloud treat. I’m excited to share these creative resources with you – I hope they can save you time in searching for lesson plan ideas!
There’s no shortage of great teaching tips for teaching science. If you’re looking for something different – I’ve got your back! Check out these 10 Scientific Method Tools to Make Science Easier, 16 Classic and Creative Ways to Teach Worms, or 21 Super Activities for Teaching Moon Phases. Subscribe to get daily or weekly email updates with creative teaching ideas from featured teachers!
1. My Cloud Book Printable – Students fill in the blanks for cumulus, stratus and cirrus clouds. This is a 9 page free download half-page printable book.
2. Types of Clouds – Describe and make examples of the four types of clouds – cirrus, cumulus, stratus and nimbus. Use crayons and cotton balls to make each one!
3. Clouds By Altitude Flap Book – Use the positions of clouds in the atmosphere to create a flap cloud book. Have students add their own words to make the text or add bullet points of information.
4. All About Clouds Website for Kids – The most popular questions about clouds answered in kid-friendly manner. Includes why are clouds white, why do clouds float and info on 16 types of clouds! Plus, more weather related lesson plans and experiments for fog, pressure and evaporation.
5. NASA Clouds for Kids Charts – Free, printable introduction to clouds chart and a cloud identification chart with pictures. You could totally turn these images into a cloud viewer like this one.
6. Identify A Cloud Online Quiz – Use photographs to identify clouds amongst a list of 9 kinds including stratocumulus, altostratus and cumulonimbus.
7. Clouds Song for Kids – This song about clouds is to the tune of The Itsy Bitsy Spider. Describe each of the three main types of clouds as puffy, dark and wipsy to help students remember them.
8. Types of Clouds Song for Kids – This clouds song for kids is to the tune of The Ants Go Marching. It describes each of the three categories of clouds and will be easy for students to sing along!
9. Predicting Weather Using the Clouds Video – Learn in under 6 minutes how weather is predicted including NASA satellites. I like the section that starts at about 2 minutes in.
10. Clouds in the Water Cycle Video – This water cycle video uses animation (and thick accents, mind you) to explain evaporation, condensation, precipitation and the role of clouds in the water cycle.
11. Clouds and Lightning Video – This neat time lapse video explores how warm air rises and cools to form clouds. It depicts how clouds become anvil shaped and invites students to wonder how ice plays a role in creating lightning.
12. The Three Main Clouds: Cirrus, Stratus, Cumulus Video – This weather chasing video models the 3 main types of clouds with great video illustrations.
13. Using Clouds to Predict the Weather – Teach students how to “predict” the weather and use this information to track their predictions. Were they correct often over a week-long time period… do they have a future as a meteorologist?
14. Cloud in a Jar Experiments for Kids – Conduct this experiment for kids with ice, hot water and a jar. You can watch a cloud form through the glass quickly.
15. Graphing Cloud Types – After learning about the types of clouds, have students make their favorite and graph the class’ results. You could also do this as a class graph with the types of clouds you see over a week or month.
16. Holding a Cloud (Microwave Soap Experiment) – How to make a cloud using Ivory soap and a microwave. Simply place the soap in the microwave for 1.5 mins – and poof – an instant cumulus cloud!
17. Two Ingredient Cloud Dough – Bring the clouds into your word work by making cloud dough with only 2 ingredients. Students can form spelling words or stamp magnetic letters into the dough.
18. My Pet Cloud – Send your students home with a gift to remember science lessons on clouds. A pet cloud in a bag is a fun way to send home a piece of the sky. This includes a free printable tag bag topper.
19. Clouds Cotton Candy Flavored Jello Treat – Wrap up your investigations on clouds with a fun clouds jello treat. Food in the classroom is fun with this simple jello for the sky and whipped cream or cool whip for the cloud layers.
20. Find the Picture in the Clouds – Have a fun activity for fast finishers or as a creative writing prompt starter. Students find pictures within cloud photographs by outlining the edges of the clouds.
21. Reverse Cloud Print Class Book – Use any stencil to create an object in the center of the paper. Use sponges or cotton balls to paint the blue sky around the stencil. A fun twist to painting clouds with white paint for It Looked Like Spilt Milk.
22. Puffy Shaving Cream Clouds – Get the coolest texture to your painting clouds art project by adding shaving cream. A great way to illustrate clouds with a 3D effect.
23. Sky Above Clouds Art Project – Create stunning art to go along with any of your science investigations. Here is a Georgia O’Keefe inspired painting of clouds with blues, pinks and purples.
What a creative set of resources to teach clouds in science for kids! I hope you found these videos, songs, printables and lesson plan resources helpful.
Thanks to all of the talented people featured in this collection – your ideas will save so much time for many teachers! Feel free to grab the “I’m a Featured Teach Junkie” blog button as your creations are definitely worth the shout out.
