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If your kids like science experiments they will love these fun Weather In a Jar Science Experiments!
Get the kids excited about learning different weather patterns with these fun and easy Weather In a Jar Science Experiments.
Each one is easy to set up with minimal materials. Best part is that kids can do it themselves!
Watch my 7 year old son show you step-by-step how to create a Raincloud, Snowstorm, and Tornado in the fun video included down below.
My son is really into science experiments lately and has been showcasing a number of easy classic science experiments kids can do right at home! You can also do these as classroom school science projects!
In case you missed it, check out his Giant Skittles Rainbow Experiment, Bubble Science, and Elephant Toothpaste Experiment.
All these posts include step-by-step video instructions for you and your kids to watch alongside with you.
These classic science experiments are a great conversation starter on the science behind what happens and cause and effect. You can also form hypotheses and test them out!
Let’s get straight to our weather in a jar experiments.
The first one is a Snowstorm In a Jar. This is so simple and visually mesmerizing. All you need for this are:
SNOWSTORM IN A JAR – MATERIALS:
- Water
- A jar
- White paint
- Baby oil
- Glitter (optional, just pretty to watch swirl around)
- Alka-Seltzer tablets
INSTRUCTIONS:
Step 1. Add your baby oil to the jar about 3/4 full.
Step 2. Mix white paint with a bit of water. To be honest we didn’t exactly measure this, it was a few squirts of white pain with about 1/4 – 1/2 cups of water. The exact measurements don’t matter much here as you just want to have a thin water/paint mixture. This is a great time to test out a hypothesis – what happens if you add equal parts paint/water or more paint to water ratio?
Step 3. Add your white paint to the baby oil.
Step 4. Add glitter for some fun visual effects (optional).
Step 5. Drop your Alka-Seltzer tablet one at a time in the jar. Watch as the white paint/water mixture bubbles up from the effervescent effects of the Alka-Seltzer.
What’s the science behind the snowstorm in a jar?
As water doesn’t mix with oil, you can see the droplets of white paint that bubble up as “snow” appear. This science experiment is very similar to how we constructed our Glitter Lava Lamps!
The second science experiment is a Rain Cloud In a Jar. This one is is also visually appealing and smells good too! All you need for this is are:
RAIN CLOUD IN A JAR – MATERIALS:
- Shaving cream
- Water
- A jar (we recommend a wide mouth shallow one as shown)
- Pipette
- Blue liquid watercolors (you can also use water with food coloring just as easily! You can also experiment with different colors and create a rainbow cloud and rain! How pretty would that be?)
INSTRUCTIONS:
Step 1. Add water to your jar leaving room at the top for shaving cream.
Step 2. Squirt a few big blobs of shaving cream to fill the top of the jar.
Step 3. Add your liquid watercolor in a bowl and suck up a bit with a pipette. Drop the liquid into the shaving cream.
Step 4. Watch and observe the “rain” or liquid watercolor seep down the shaving cream cloud.
What’s the science behind the rain cloud?
As your drop your liquid watercolors down the shaving cream raincloud it saturates the cloud, making it heavy, and rain starts falling down. Just like in a real raincloud! Pretty cool to see the visual effects!
The third experiment is a tornado in a jar. This one was the simplest to set up. All you need are:
TORNADO IN A JAR – MATERIALS:
- A jar
- Water
- Dish Soap
- Glitter (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS:
Step 1. Pour water into your jar almost to the top.
Step 2. Add a small drop of dish soap. Not too much or else there will be too many bubbles and it will be hard to see the tornado.
Step 3. Add some glitter (optional but cool to see it swirl).
Step 4. Cap your jar and make sure it’s tight!
Step 4. Shake your jar vigorously. First we shook it up and down, then side to side. Set the jar down and watch closely for the tornado forming in the jar!
Although the tornado was the easiest to set up it was the hardest one to see a big visual effect, we had to shake the jar several times and look hard to see the tornado. The more you shake the more bubbles settle at the top, and the water does seem to cloud up!
So this is one we will have to try again. We did make sure to use a rounded jar to see the tornado fully, but maybe our jar was still not round enough!
What’s the science behind the tornado in a jar?
Swirling or spinning what’s in the jar (glitter and dish soap) creates a vortex like a tornado and centripetal force ensues which pulls all the elements inwards towards the center of the jar.
Check out the video below to see my son explain how to set up these 3 Weather in a Jar Science Experiment For Kids.
Check out more science experiments for kids.
3 WEATHER IN A JAR SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS FOR KIDS
Get the kids excited about learning different weather patterns with these fun and easy Weather In a Jar Science Experiments.
Materials
- SNOWSTORM IN A JAR
- Water
- A jar
- White paint
- Baby oil
- Glitter (optional, just pretty to watch swirl around)
- Alka-Seltzer tablets
- RAIN CLOUD IN A JAR
- Shaving cream
- Water
- A jar (we recommend a wide mouth shallow one as shown)
- Pipette
- Blue liquid watercolors (you can also use water with food coloring just as easily! You can also experiment with different colors and create a rainbow cloud and rain! How pretty would that be?)
- TORNADO IN A JAR
- A jar
- Water
- Dish Soap
- Glitter (optional)
Instructions
SNOWSTORM IN A JAR
Step 1. Add your baby oil to the jar about 3/4 full.
Step 2. Mix white paint with a bit of water. To be honest we didn’t exactly measure this, it was a few squirts of white pain with about 1/4 – 1/2 cups of water. The exact measurements don’t matter much here as you just want to have a thin water/paint mixture. This is a great time to test out a hypothesis – what happens if you add equal parts paint/water or more paint to water ratio?
Step 3. Add your white paint to the baby oil.
Step 4. Add glitter for some fun visual effects (optional).
Step 5. Drop your Alka-Seltzer tablet one at a time in the jar. Watch as the white paint/water mixture bubbles up from the effervescent effects of the Alka-Seltzer.
RAIN CLOUD IN A JAR
Step 1. Add water to your jar leaving room at the top for shaving cream.
Step 2. Squirt a few big blobs of shaving cream to fill the top of the jar.
Step 3. Add your liquid watercolor in a bowl and suck up a bit with a pipette. Drop the liquid into the shaving cream.
Step 4. Watch and observe the “rain” or liquid watercolor seep down the shaving cream cloud.
TORNADO IN A JAR
Step 1. Pour water into your jar almost to the top.
Step 2. Add a small drop of dish soap. Not too much or else there will be too many bubbles and it will be hard to see the tornado.
Step 3. Add some glitter (optional but cool to see it swirl).
Step 4. Cap your jar and make sure it’s tight!
Step 5. Shake your jar vigorously. First we shook it up and down, then side to side. Set the jar down and watch closely for the tornado forming in the jar!
More Fun Science Experiment
Classic Elephant Tootphaste
Bubble Science Experiment
Giant Magic Milk Experiment
Giant Rainbow Skittles Candy Experiment
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Agnes Hsu is a mom of three and has been inspiring parents and kids to get creative with easy activities and family friendly recipes for over 10 years. She shares her love for creative play and kids food to her 2MM+ followers online. Agnes' commitment to playful learning and kindness has not only raised funds for charity but also earned features in prestigious nationwide publications.