What Kids Learn:
In the STEAM activity, shaving cream rain clouds experiment, kids learn about density as they observe the shaving cream floating on water and the mixing and dissolving of food coloring when it drops spread through the cream into the water. It helps them understand cloud formation, enjoy hands-on science, and be creative with colorful patterns.
*What is Density?
Density is how much stuff is packed into an object or a substance. If something is heavy for its size, it has more density. If something is light for its size, it has less density. For example, a small rock might be heavier than a big piece of foam because the rock has more density, which means more tiny pieces are packed together inside it. So, density helps us understand how heavy or light things are compared to their size.
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What We Need
STEAM Activity Shaving Cream Rain Clouds Materials- Clear glass or container
- Water
- Shaving creme or foam
- Food Coloring
How To Do Shaving Creme Rain Clouds Experiment
- Pour water into the clear glass or container, filling it about halfway.
STEAM Activity Shaving Cream Rain Clouds – Pour Water - Spray or scoop a layer of shaving cream on top of the water in the container. (Don’t make it too thick as it will take a long time for the food coloring to sink.) It should float on the water’s surface like clouds in the sky.
STEAM Activity Shaving Cream Rain Clouds – Put Shaving Creme
STEAM Activity Shaving Cream Rain Clouds – Put Shaving Creme or Foam - Drop a few different colors of food coloring onto the shaving cream cloud. These colored drops represent raindrops falling through the clouds.
STEAM Activity Shaving Cream Rain Clouds – Drop A Few Different Colors of Food Coloring.JPG - Watch as the food coloring drops start to sink through the shaving cream and mix with the water below. This demonstrates how rain falls through clouds and how substances can mix in liquids.
STEAM Activity Shaving Cream Rain Clouds – Watch as the Food Coloring Starts To Sink
STEAM Activity Shaving Cream Rain Clouds – Watch The Food Coloring Sinks.JPG
STEAM Activity Shaving Cream Rain Clouds – Watch and Observe - After the experiment, talk about what happened and what was observed. You can discuss concepts like density, mixing, and cloud formation, making it a fun and educational experience.
STEAM Activity Shaving Creme Rain Clouds – Watch and Observe
STEAM Activity Shaving Cream Rain Clouds – Watch and Observe
Variations & Challenges
- Before conducting the experiment, ask kids to predict what will happen when the food coloring is dropped on the shaving cream clouds. Have them record their predictions and compare them to the actual results.
- Instead of just dropping food coloring onto the shaving cream clouds, you can use a spray bottle filled with colored water to simulate a rainstorm. Spray the colored water over the shaving cream clouds and observe the “raindrops” falling through the “clouds”.
- Instead of dropping single drops of food coloring, try mixing different colors of food coloring together before adding them to the shaving cream. Observe how the colors mix and create new shades as they fall through the cloud.
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