The rain was already tapping the classroom window when I wrote the verse on the chalkboard, and my five-year-old looked up from his stool and said, "Can we make it rain inside?" So we did. It was the easiest yes I have given all fall.
This is the little rain cloud experiment we come back to whenever the sky is grey: a clear jar of water, a cloud of shaving cream on top, and drops of blue that eventually fall through like rain. Here is how we actually use it in our room, with a three-year-old and a five-year-old at the same table.
What we set out the night before
The calm of the morning is made the evening before. I set one tray at each boy's place at our big counter-height table, so everything is waiting when we sit down.
- One clear jar or tall glass each, filled about three-quarters with water
- A small bowl of shaving cream, plain foam, nothing scented or fancy
- A little cup of water with blue food coloring stirred in, dark enough to see
- A spoon or a dropper for each boy
- A towel folded at the corner of each tray
If you are teaching at the kitchen table, as we did for two years, clear one end the night before and put the trays down on a baking sheet. A rimmed sheet catches everything and makes the whole thing feel contained. If you would like to see how we set up our own room, I wrote about designing your homeschool classroom, but a table and two trays are all this needs.
How the morning goes
First, the verse and a look outside
We begin where we always begin. The verse goes up on the chalkboard, and today it was Psalm 147:8. I read it slowly, and then we go to the window and look at the real clouds. I ask, "Who made the clouds?" and the boys say it together, because they know. Then I say, "Today we get to see a little of how the rain comes down."
Build the cloud
Each boy spoons shaving cream onto the top of his jar of water. The five-year-old likes to make his tall and puffy. The three-year-old pats his flat and then pats it again, which is fine. This part alone can take five minutes, and I let it.
I say, "That is our cloud. It is sitting up high, just like the real one."
Make it rain
Now the blue. They drip the colored water onto the cloud a drop at a time. For a while nothing happens, and that waiting is the lesson. Then the color starts to push through the bottom of the foam and streaks down into the jar.
Here is what I say, plain and short: "The cloud is holding water. When it holds all it can, it gets heavy, and the water falls. That is rain."
That is the whole explanation for ages three and five. I am not a science teacher and I do not pretend to be one. I would rather say a true simple thing and let them stare at the jar than reach for words they will not keep.
One job for each boy
Because the boys are two years apart, I give them the same experiment with different jobs.
The five-year-old makes a guess before he starts. I ask, "How many drops do you think it will take before it rains?" He says a number, we write it on the chalkboard, and then he counts his drops out loud. Afterward we look at the number again. He was off by quite a bit, and he laughed. That is a small first taste of what it means to test something.
The three-year-old does the dropping and the watching. His job is to tell me the moment he sees blue falling. "Rain!" is all I need from him. He has a real part, and he is not just tagging along behind his brother.
What happens when it gets messy
It will get a little messy. A blue drop will land on a tray, and a spoon will end up in a jar. I keep the towels in reach and I keep my voice easy, and we wipe and carry on. A tray does most of the work for me. I would rather have the boys at ease with their hands in the experiment than guarding it.
Keeping the rain after the lesson
When the blue has all fallen, the jars go on our nature shelf for the afternoon. The boys check them again after lunch. The colors have mixed and the cloud has sunk, and the five-year-old will tell his dad the whole story at supper. That retelling is the best review I could ask for.
If you want something quiet to follow it, put the picture books out in the reading nook, or take a basket for a walk the next dry day and look for the clouds themselves. Members get a free nature-walk basket list among their 32 free printables, and membership costs nothing, ever. If you want more seasonal work for ages 2 through 7, you will find it in the worksheet shop, where every worksheet is $4.00, or $2.00 for members.
Why I keep doing this
A jar of rain on a grey morning is not on anyone's list of requirements. State requirements vary, and you can find where to start on our resources page. But I keep these small experiments because they turn the weather into worship. My boys look up at the clouds now and wonder at the One who made them. If you have a morning like this and want to tell someone about it, the members' forum is a gentle place to do it.
So fill a jar. Let it rain on a Tuesday. As Psalm 147:8 says, "He covers the heavens with clouds; he prepares rain for the earth; he makes grass grow on the hills."
