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I tried to make a rainbow using the glass of water and sunlight. It was tricky to do in the garden as I made shadows over it, but I got a small rainbow to appear.

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I made the rainbow using the skittles.
It worked faster using warm water compared to cold water!

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I tried the rainstorm in a jar using neon paint.
It worked better when we did it in a darker room because the paint was brighter!

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              How did you get on with the experiments? 

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              How did you get on with the experiments? 

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Class interactive space:

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                 Some extra fun with science:

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                 Some extra fun with science:

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A Skittles Rainbow Science Project? Create Your Own Rainbow Inside or Outside

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When spring showers arrive, it is the perfect time to harness kids' natural curiosity about the weather with weather science experiments!

What makes thunder? Why does it rain? How are clouds formed? How do meteorologists determine if it's going to be rainy or sunny?

These weather science experiments for kids will teach kids about weather, weather patterns, clouds, and more with these super-fun, hands-on weather activities!

These weather STEM activities are the perfect addition to any weather unit study!

What are Weather Experiments for Kids?

A weather experiment is simply a science experiment that teaches a concept about the weather. In most cases, these experiments are actual weather science demonstrations, as they demonstrate a wider scientific concept.

To be a true weather experiment, kids must solve a problem using a question, hypothesis, and by testing variables.

These are important and can be done with weather science themes, but often, teaching weather concepts through science demonstrations are also important!

So, go ahead and have fun with these weather experiments for kids!

You can find topics such as weather patterns, extreme weather, preparing for weather, and more!

Answer all these questions and more with weather experiments for kids!

And save these experiments in your box of science fair project ideas.

Simple Weather Science Experiments for Kids

Try these fun weather science projects and learn more about how weather works! Who knows, you just might be teaching a future meteorologist!

If you're in a rush, these are our favorite weather science kits.

Or, keep exploring the weather projects for kids outlined below! They are perfect for kids in elementary!

Extreme Weather Science Experiments
Tornado in a Jar
Make a tornado in a jar and learn about vortexes, weather patterns, circular air, extreme weather, and more!

Make your very own snow storm in a jar! Learn about the science of blizzards and how snow storms are formed.
Frost in a Jar
Learn how freezes happens with this exciting frost in a jar science experimnet!
Borax Crystal Snowflakes
Find out how snowflakes form and the science of crystals in this fun science experiment!
Instant Ice Science Experiment
Learn how to make ice in just 5 seconds and learn all about snap freezing.

Cloud Science Experiments
Puff Paint Cloud Types
Learn about the different types of clouds.
Raining Rainbow Cloud
Make a rainbow cloud that is sometimes called fireworks in a jar!
How Clouds Make Rain
Learn how clouds make rain!

Rain Science Experiments

Water Cycle in a Bag

Use a bag to learn about the water cycle.
Water Cycle Discovery Bottle
If you don't have a bag, you can also create your own water cycle inside of a bottle!

Temperature Science Experiments
Hot and Cold Temperature Experiment
Learn how hot and cold temperatures won't mix, which influences air pressure, wind, and weather.
How to Make Frost
Ever wonder how frost forms? Now you can learn how to make frost in a can and learn about condensation and how frost forms.

Make a Science Weather Station

Build a weather station and use it to track weather patterns near your school or house.

Make a Rain Gauge

How much rain has fallen? You won't know unless you make a rain gauge.

Make a Barometer

Follow these instructions to make your own barometer.

Wind Science Experiments
How Fronts Work
Have you ever wondered how fronts work? Now you can show kids how they work in a way that every kid can understand.
Make Lightening
Did you know you can make your own lighting? Right inside your house? Kids will love this one.
Make a Hurricane in a Bowl
You've made a blizzard in a jar, now make a hurricane in a bowl!
Air Pressure Experiment
Determine how air pressure works, and what that means for weather.

Weather Science Experiments for Preschoolers

If you need weather science experiments for preschoolers, check out our list of weather science experiments for preschoolers that are specially designed for younger learners.

Weather Science Experiments for Kindergarten

Need some weather science that kindergarten kids can do? Check out this list of weather science experiments for kindergarten that won't overwhelm new learners.

Weather Science Experiments for Elementary

There are so many fun weather science experiments! These weather science experiments for elementary are designed with elementary students in mind!

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Simple Weather Science Experiments for Kids

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When spring showers arrive, it is the perfect time to harness kids' natural curiosity about the weather with weather science experiments! What makes thunder? Why does it rain? How are clouds formed? How do meteorologists determine if it's going to be rainy or sunny?

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Try some of your own and we can discuss them in school!

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Weather Wiz Kids weather information for kids

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Weather Wiz Kids is a fun and safe website for kids about all the weather info they need to know. It contains tools for weather education, including weather games, activities, experiments, photos, a glossary and educational teaching materials for the classroom.

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As light passes through water droplets (the glass of water) it causes the light to split into its different colours- which creates a rainbow.

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1) Place the glass of water onto the white paper.
2A) If using the sunshine, place the glass and page into the sun and see if you can spot the rainbow on the page.
2B) If using the torch, shine the torch along the glass of water until you find the rainbow appearing.
(This can work best in darker rooms! You can experiment using different containers!)
3) Try and draw the rainbow when it appears on the page!

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A glass of water.
A torch or sunlight.
White paper.

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Earlier this spring I was driving home from my parents house through the country side with the kids. They live about 45 minutes away and the drive is mostly past corn fields and farms. My husband had stayed home that day, so I had the three kids in the van alone with me. There are very few things in this world that terrify me, but tornadoes are one of them. I still have nightmares about the movie Twister. (I'm pretty sure that movie has scarred me for life.)

It was one of those days where the sky was dark, and you knew it was going to storm, but you didn't know when. I was driving past one particular field about 10 minutes from home and the sky turned orange. I looked into the fields and they were foggy with dust in the air and you could feel the van being pushed by the wind. I've never gripped the stearing wheel so hard in my life! Of course there was a traffic light in the middle of the freaking country side and it turned red at that particular moment. I turned to look into the field beside me and you could see debris spinning around.

I'm a rule follower. I don't go through red lights. But never before in my life have I been so close to doing it. Of course, since I'm a rule follower, I sat in my van and waited for the light to turn green while my hands were shaking on the steering wheel. Even if a tornado turned up, I really had no idea what to do. Keep driving? Stop? I have no idea.

The moment the light turned green I flew out of there. Right past two people gunning it on their bicycles. I can't even imagine what those guys were thinking, but they were definitely peddling fast! I was suddenly feeling lucky to be in my minivan.

Now, as far as I know, there was no tornado that day. But it was a whopper of a storm and wow, was I ever scared. Debris was swirling around in the fields beside me, and I've just never seen that before. The kids were very curious about the weather and I was trying to stay positive. So in a chipper and shaky voice I was like, "Wow, look at those dark clouds kids. Nope, Mommy's not scared at all!" Ha!

This tornado in a jar experiment is a MUCH better way to learn about tornadoes. Safe. Controlled. Much better. And it only takes a couple of minutes to put the experiment together. I was inspired by the posts over at Hip Homeschooling and In Lieu of Preschool.

How to Make a Tornado in a Jar

The full printable recipe is at the end of this post, but here's what you'll need:

I used a pickle jar, but any round jar should work. Olive jars, clear plastic vitamin containers, relish jars, spaghetti sauce jars, etc. Check your fridge and recycling bin and see what you have. The kids had pickles as their snack yesterday so I could empty out this particular pickle jar.

I tried using a mason jar as well, but mason jars are slightly squared off. It still worked, but I found it was a little bit harder to swirl. But if that's all you can find, give it a try!

Fill your jar with water leaving about 1″ space at the top. Squeeze in a generous squirt of dish soap, then add one or two drops of food colouring. Don't add more food colouring than that or the water will turn too dark and you won't be able to see the tornado forming.

If you find your mixture is too bubbly, try adding a teaspoon of vinegar. I have no idea if there is any scientific reason for this, but I found that the tornados were much better with the vinegar added. Maybe I'm crazy. You'll have to try it for yourself to see if it makes a difference for you.

Then grip the jar with two hands and start swirling it around. It helps to turn it upside down and to swirl it by the lid. I have no idea why.

It gets really bubbly fairly quickly, especially if you're shaking it vigorously. If you have too many bubbles, just open up the jar, and use a spoon to scoop some of the bubbles out. It makes it a lot easier to see the tornado if there aren't a gazillion bubbles blocking your view. You also might have to let it sit for 30 seconds to a minute to settle if it's full of bubbles.

You can also try to add some debris in there to swirl around. I tried to add some glitter, but it was swirling so fast that you couldn't really see the glitter. I found that small beads actually worked way better. I added about 15 small beads and it was super fun to watch them get sucked up into the vortex!

How to Make a Tornado in a Jar

This tornado in a jar experiment is crazy simple to put together, but it's so fun to watch! It only takes a few minutes to put it together, and when your done, all you have to do is pour it down the drain and recycle your jar. (Unless you added glitter or beads. In that case, place a paper towel into a strainer, and pour out the contents into the paper towel and strainer to catch all your debris. Super easy.).

This is a super fun and easy way to teach kids about tornadoes without actually needing to witness one - Or to scar your kids for life by showing them the movie Twister. Don't let them watch that movie. Ever.

If you're looking for more fun weather activities, be sure to check out our Shaving Cream Rain Clouds experiment. This one is super simple to put together too, and it's beautiful to see the results!

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Earlier this spring I was driving home from my parents house through the country side with the kids. They live about 45 minutes away and the drive is mostly past corn fields and farms. My husband had stayed home that day, so I had the three kids in the van alone with me.

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The jar of water is the air and when you swirl the jar it creates 'wind'.
Very strong winds moving in different directions at high speeds causes the air to swirl. This is what can cause a tornado.

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1) Fill the jar with water, leaving a bit of space at the top.
2) Add 1 teaspoon of dish soap and 1-2 drops of food colouring.
3) Put the lid on and swirl around to mix.
(If too many bubbles form, you can add a drop of vinegar, or scoop them from the top)
4) Swirl the jar in a circular motion until the 'tornado' forms!

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A round jar.
Water.
Dish soap.
Blue food colouring.

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Method
Making the Rain

Begin by combining 1 teaspoon of glowing paint with 1/2 cup of very warm water in a bowl, using one bowl for each color of "rain" and "lightning" that you wish to make.

Stir until the paint is dissolved and the ingredients are combined.

Add an eye dropper or pipette to each bowl, and then momentarily set them to the side.

Fill a jar 2/3 of the way with cool water, and then form a "cloud" on top using shaving cream.

You jar should look something like this:

Have kids fill pipettes with the "glowing rain" colors, and then squeeze them onto the shaving cream cloud.

At first, the cloud will swell with the colorful liquids. holding them inside.

Once the cloud fills with enough moisture it will begin to "rain".

As the glowing colors fall they will swirl and mix inside of the jar, creating the most spectacular storm!

Once the cloud was really over-saturated huge amounts of rain came down at once. It was so incredibly cool!

This storm in a jar experiment was so fun, and the girls learned a lot about weather, rain, and storms by visually making their own storm.

Extend the Fun

Try this experiment using just one color of rain. We tried using only blue rain and made the coolest glowing rain cloud!

Try this experiment using other liquids.

Turn this into a lesson in color theory by using 2 colors of "rain" that come together to make a new color.

Try comparing the results of a hot water storm to a cold water storm by filling two jars with varying temperatures of water.

Try with the lights on! It is just as cool!

Also be sure to try a few of our other favorite science experiments for kids:

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Method Making the Rain Begin by combining 1 teaspoon of glowing paint with 1/2 cup of very warm water in a bowl, using one bowl for each color of "rain" and "lightning" that you wish to make. Stir until the paint is dissolved and the ingredients are combined.

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When the clouds (shaving cream) get too full from the water droplets (paint/food colouring), they release the droplets as rain.
The rain is the paint/food colouring you see as it falls into the jar of water!

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1) Fill the jar 3/4 way with cool water and put shaving cream on the top.
3) Use the pipettes/straws to put drops of the paint or food colouring onto the shaving cream.
4) Keep adding droplets and watch what happens!
(If you are using the paint, it is best to mix it with some warm water first!)

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A jar or glass.
Shaving cream.
Water.
Neon paint or food colouring.
Bowls.
Spoons.
Pipette dropper or straw.