What do you get when you mix shaving cream and a little water? A fun, safe, hands-on experiment that teaches kids about the science of clouds! This rain cloud in a jar is an easy way to teach kids how weather works. All they need are some basic supplies from your kitchen or bathroom and this step-by-step guide on how to conduct their own Shaving Cream Cloud Experiment for Kids.
The experiment should take about four minutes in total, but you can make adjustments to the ingredients and process to see how long your children stay engaged to explore their creations!
Shaved cream experiment for kids: a fun way to teach physics
The intention of this experiment is to show that the density of a liquid determines how quickly it will evaporate. If you use shaving cream, which has more solids than water and thus a higher relative density, then the cloud created should last for much longer before dissipating as opposed to an equal amount of pure H20.
Shaving cream cloud experiment
If you’re looking for a fun, hands-on science activity that kids will love, try this Shaving Cream Cloud Experiment. All you need is shaving cream (or any foam that expands when exposed to air) and water in a spray bottle or squirt gun.
To set up the experiment:
* Fill one pitcher with just enough water so it goes over the rim of the second pitcher without spilling out onto your kitchen table;
* Put some shaving cream into an empty bowl; * Pour twice as much water on top of the shaving cream to make it look like whipped egg whites; * Point the nozzle towards the center of your home plate at about waist height; then spray a steady stream of water to create the Shaving Cream Cloud.
* Shaving cream and other foams will expand when exposed to air, so be careful not to overfill the second pitcher.
* If you’re using shaving cream for this experiment, it’s best not use aerosol cans because they release harmful chemicals into the environment and contain propellants that can cause respiratory problems in young children.
* To remove excess shaving cream from clothing or skin, simply brush off any clumps with your hand (do NOT rub).
* To clean up after an experiment: just wipe away any spilled liquids with paper towels or rags! Remember- do not ever pour anything down the drain.
Shaving cream rain cloud experiment
Materials needed: Shaving cream, bowl to hold shaving cream and water.
Instructions:
- Fill the bottom of a cup with one inch of water.
- Squeeze some shaving cream into the middle section of your cloud container (that should be open on top). Be sure not to cover up the opening at the top! This is where you’ll put in more shaving cream later when it starts raining down from your cloud. Pour just enough to make an even layer all around that’s about half as tall as your container.
- Carefully pour three teaspoons or so of cooking oil onto this first layer without getting too much on the edge because this will keep it from sticking together well once we add liquid later.
- Now, put the top of your container back on and shake it for a few seconds to mix up all the ingredients!
- Fill up one side of your cup with water so that when you pour it into the other end, there’s just enough to cover the shaving cream layer without going over. Pour this in at an angle from one corner until you can’t see any more white foam underneath but still have some left inside as well (this is where we’re going to add our liquid later).
- Shaking again will help make sure everything gets mixed together well. If not, try flipping it upside down or giving it a gentle tap against something hard like a table edge – if nothing happens after awhile then give mixing it a little more time before moving on.
- Now, we’re going to pour some liquid onto the mixture! Shaving cream is pretty thirsty so it’ll suck up most of the water and oil that you put in – but if you use just enough then there will be too much for any one section to hold all at once without spilling over.
- Add about half an inch or less of water and watch what happens next: as soon as some starts pouring down into your container, it’ll start raining out from your cloud! The foam clouds will fall back down because they can’t stay light anymore like when we added air bubbles underneath them. And instead of making raindrops with our hands this way (which is only possible by using a tub of water) now we can make them just by pouring in some liquid!
- What you’ll see next is the first raindrops coming down from your cloud, and it’s going to keep raining until all the shaving cream has fallen out. That means that this experiment will have a life span of about 20 minutes or so – but if you’re not sure what time it will take for this to happen then give it at least ten minutes before deciding on how long to go!
- Be careful when taking off the lid again because there might be more foam escaping up into the air than normal. You may want to discard any leftovers after each use since we don’t really need much more than one batch worth for an experiment like this.
- Shaving cream rain cloud experiment: written instructions and materials needed on how to do a shaving cream cloud experiment. The material is listed as “shaving cream.”
Keywords: Shaving Cream Cloud Experiment, Shaving Cream Rain Cloud Experience