Water experiments for kids will just give your kids another reason to get wet and play with water, but this time it will be learning with fun. Monsoon, the rainy season, is the perfect time to delve into the fun science of water for kids.

Що таке мусон і що викликає дощ? 15+ дослідів з води для дітей

Before we start the science experiments for kids, let’s talk more about this wonderful monsoon season and the science behind it.

Content:

What is a monsoon?
What causes rain
Weather experiments for children
Jokes about the weather for children

Monsoon is the rainy season that everyone in the Indian subcontinent looks forward to. It is a special and sacred season for India as the crops depend on the monsoon rains as well as the livelihood of millions of our countrymen.

What is monsoon?

The word monsoon comes from the Arabic word “mausem” which means season. The monsoon season is marked by heavy continuous rains throughout India.

But technically, a monsoon means a change in the wind, which in turn brings rain.

During the summer season that precedes the monsoon, the land heats up, thereby heating the air above it. This hot air creates an area of low pressure that attracts winds from the oceans.

This ocean wind is saturated with water vapor. As it rises over the mountains and terrain, it cools, bringing with it the characteristic monsoon rains.

India witnesses two types of monsoons:

Southwest monsoon

The southwest monsoon occurs between June and September. During this time, the monsoon winds move from the seas to the Indian subcontinent in a southwesterly direction, bringing further rainfall across the Western Ghats and further into the northern parts of India. These southwesterly winds are responsible for most of India’s rainfall.

Northeast monsoon

This monsoon season is much less humid and brings much less rainfall than the southwest season. In October and December, it brings rainfall to the states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, where rice crops depend on it.

What causes rain?

Rain is part of a larger term called Precipitation, which in turn is a small piece of the puzzle called the Water Cycle. Any form of water that falls from the atmosphere onto the Earth’s surface is called precipitation. Rain is one such form. Others include sleet, hail, snow and sleet.

Rain is an important part of the water cycle, the process by which water moves between the land and the atmosphere. Rain is extremely important for the survival of life on our planet. Plants, animals and people depend on it for the water we drink.

Rain occurs when clouds become too heavy to hold water in them any longer. Think of clouds as a cup that contains water.

You can continue to add water to the cup until it reaches the brim. After that, the water simply overflows from the cup. This is what happens with clouds.

Clouds contain millions of tiny droplets. But when they become too heavy or filled with drops of water and can hold no more (like a cup), it starts to rain.

Check out this journal about cloud science and other rainy weather activities:

This rain replenishes our land with fresh water and fills our rivers, lakes and ponds. Without rain, our crops would not grow and animals, including us, would die.

Experiments with water for children

1. A rain cloud in a cup

This is one of the coolest rain experiments you can do with kids. This clearly explains the concept of how clouds become heavy water droplets and eventually rain. You will need:

cup
shaving foam
pipette
food coloring
water
bowl

Step 1: Mix food coloring with water in a small bowl and set aside.

Step 2: Take a cup and fill it three-quarters full with water.

Step 3: Fill the cup with shaving foam that looks like a fluffy cloud.

Step 4: Use an eyedropper to add colored drops of water to the cloud of shaving foam.

Step 5: If you keep adding water drops, the cloud will soon fill up and start raining.

You can see this rain as colored water falling from the shavings. a cloud of foam into the water below.

Related: Also check out our list of indoor rainy day activities for kids.

2. Experiment with monsoon winds

This must-have weather experiment for kids will help your kids understand how monsoon winds move and how warm winds rise to make way for cooler ocean winds.

You will need:

glass jar
small bottle
water
food coloring
Ice

Step 1: Take a glass jar, we used a cylindrical flower vase, and fill it with water. Add ice cubes to the water to cool it down.

Step 2: Heat some water and add food coloring to it.

Step 3: Take a small bottle, an old essential oil bottle is perfect, and fill it halfway with the warm colored water from step 2.

Step 4: Place the small bottle in the glass jar.

What are you doing watching? Suddenly, the water from the bottle magically rises up against gravity! Over time, you will see a layer of colored water floating above the clear water.

The colored water is warm, while the water in the jar is chilled. Due to this, the colored warm water rises up and forms a layer above the cold water.

What happens here is like how the monsoon winds blow. Cool ocean winds displace warm air over land. And when the wind is saturated with water vapor and rises up, it rains.

Related: Also try Lava Lamp for Kids to make them jump for joy!

3. Precipitation gauge

Now that your kids understand how monsoon winds move and how rain falls through hands-on experiments, it’s time to have them measure the amount of rainfall in their area by making their own rain gauge.

A rain gauge is a simple instrument used by meteorologists to measure the amount of precipitation in an area.

4. Weather vane

This weather experiment for kids lets them determine the direction of the wind. How cool is that!! With their own weather vanes, children can know where the monsoon winds are blowing from.

5. Experiment with the disappearance of water

This simple water cycle experiment for kids will help your kids understand how water literally disappears from our lakes, ponds and rivers into the air.

This is a great starting point for teaching your kids about evaporation and the water cycle. You will need a plastic cup, a marker, pebbles and a lot of patience.

Step 1: Take a handful of pebbles and add them to an empty cup. They will act as weights for your cup and prevent it from falling.

Step 2: Fill a plastic cup halfway with water.

Step 3: Use a felt-tip pen to draw a line to indicate the water level in the cup

Step 4: Place the cup outside in a sunny location

Check the water level after a few hours. Is it the same or did some water magically disappear from the cup? Re-mark and continue to check the water level throughout the day. By the end of a bright sunny day, you may have significantly less water left.

This process of water disappearance is called evaporation. Using the sun’s heat, some water molecules gain enough energy to change their state from liquid to gas. So, ideally, the water did not disappear, but only changed states.

6. The magical appearance of water

If your kids have learned how to magically make water disappear, they should also learn how to magically bring it back, i.e. condensation.

This simple water cycle experiment is very simple and works wonders for sparking children’s curiosity and encouraging them to ask questions about the everyday science phenomena they see around them.

All you have to do is put the can of baking soda in the freezer for 15-20 minutes. Remove the jar and place it in a sunny spot on the kitchen counter. Soon, drops of water will appear on the jar, which will begin to roll down.

This is condensation. Magical, yes!

7. Tornado in a bottle

Your children will be delighted with this weather experiment. It’s super easy and takes less than five minutes to set up.

8. Do-it-yourself thermometer

A thermometer is a device for measuring temperature. Weather displays tell you the daily and weekly forecast temperature in your city. A higher temperature indicates warmer weather, and a lower one indicates cooler weather.

Now how cool would it be if your kids could make their own thermometer out of most things in your house. This is a fun weather science project for kids, suitable for ages six and up.

9. Make your own thunder

The rainy season is marked not only by rain, but also by thunderstorms. After you’ve already done the Rain in a Jar experiment with your kids, it only makes sense to add some thunder to increase the learning and fun quotient.

You need a paper bag like a lunch bag or even a plastic bag that can be recycled will work just fine. Blow the bag with your mouth until it is full. Then twist it around your mouth to seal it and prevent air from escaping. Quickly tap the bag with your free hand.

You will hear a loud clap that sounds like thunder. This simple experiment demonstrates how real thunder is created. When you hit the bag quickly, it forces the air inside the bag to escape, rupturing the bag.

This air escapes from the ruptured sac, making a sound similar to thunder. Real thunder is created in a similar way. When lightning strikes, it heats the air around it. This heated air rapidly expands, thus creating the sounds of thunder.

10. DIY Windsock

Now, if you have younger kids, the weather vane might be too much work for them. But this should not deprive them of the opportunity to learn about the direction of the wind. So here’s a simple Windsock exercise you can do with your kids.

Windsocks are commonly used at airports and helipads to give pilots a quick idea of wind direction and speed.

11. Wind power

This is a great experiment to do on a windy day and is sure to teach your kids about the power of wind and how it carries millions of particles. What you will need:

craft paper
scissors
yarn
pencil/pen
vaseline

Step 1: Take craft paper of any color and cut a rectangle (4×10) out of it.

Step 2: Poke a hole at one end of the rectangle with a pencil.

Step 3: Pull the yarn through the hole and tie the ends of the yarn to make a loop to hang the paper rectangle.

Step 4: Apply Vaseline to one side of the rectangle.

Hang the assembly outdoors on a windy day for a few hours. You will notice that various particles, even seeds and insects, stick to the Vaseline side of the paper.

The wind blows them away. In fact, wind is a great carrier and carries millions of particles around the globe.

12. How far is the thunderstorm

This is one of the most exciting weather experiments for kids on a rainy day. Imagine how great it would be to know how far a thunderstorm is from your home!

Choose a good spot near the window of your home and wait with a stopwatch for lightning to strike. When you see the flash, use your watch to count down the seconds until you hear the thunder. Thunder makes a mile every five seconds.

To calculate how far a thunderstorm travels, simply divide the seconds by five. The answer is the approximate distance the thunderstorm is from your home. So cool!

13. Make your own rainbow

No children’s entertainment about the weather is complete without creating a rainbow. A rainbow is beautiful and rare. But you don’t have to wait for perfect weather to spot it.

All you need for this simple experiment is a regular CD, water and a flashlight. And you will get a perfect, beautiful rainbow in ten minutes.

14. Snowstorm in a Jar

Wouldn’t it be great if you could watch a snowstorm from the comfort of your home? This exploratory weather experiment for kids is a surefire winner when it comes to getting kids excited.

15. Frozen water

This is one of our favorite water activities for kids. It’s extremely easy to do, and it solves the mystery of why lakes freeze faster than oceans and seas during the cold winter months.

For this experiment you will need:

Two banks
Water
Marker
Salt

Step 1: Fill both jars with water. Label one as a lake and the other as a sea with a marker.

Step 2: Add a spoonful of grain to the jar labeled sea.

Step 3: Put the jars in the freezer for 5-8 hours.

What do you observe after a few hours? The water in the jug labeled “lake” froze, but the water in the jug labeled “sea” did not.

This is exactly what happens in nature. Water in seas and oceans is salty. Salt lowers the freezing point of water. Therefore, water freezes at a temperature below 0 °C.

Lakes and ponds have fresh water, so they freeze at 0 °C. Oceans and seas, on the other hand, require much lower temperatures to freeze due to their salt content.

16. Find the warmest room

This is another weather science experiment that your kids will learn a lot from. This is a very simple demonstration of how rooms in the same house vary in temperature.

Let your kids become little weather detectives and find out which room is the warmest (or coldest).

You will need:

Jars
Marker
Ice cubes

Step 1: Take as many jars as there are rooms you want to check for. Example: If you have three rooms and you want to know which one is the warmest, you will need three cans.

Start by asking your child which room they think is the warmest. Let them guess before starting the experiment.

Step 2: Add four ice cubes to each jar and place it next to the bed or on the table in each room. Make sure all the locations in the rooms are relatively the same, and none are in direct sunlight.

Step 3: Observe the jars after 10-15 minutes. Mark the water level with a marker.

Compare the water level in the jars. Now you can answer which room is the warmest? Is it the same as you assume?

After you and your kids have done a lot of STEM weather and monsoon activities, it’s time to have some fun.

How about funny weather jokes for kids? These jokes are a great way to build weather vocabulary and review what you’ve learned.

Jokes about the weather for children

Q1: What did the tornado say to the race car?

A1: “Do you want to go for a ride?”

Q2: What kind of bow cannot be tied?

A2: Rainbow

Q3: What did one lightning bolt say to another?

A3: “You are shocking!”

Q4: What did one raindrop say to another?

A4: “My punch is bigger than yours!”

Q5: How are hurricanes seen?

A5: With one eye.

Q6: What happens when it rains cats and dogs?

A6: Be careful not to step on the poodle!

Q7: What did one hurricane say to the other?

A7: “I’m watching you!”

Q8: What did one thermometer say to the other?

A8: “You make my temperature rise!”

Q9: What does the cloud wear under its cloak?

A9: Thunderwear

Q10: What is Tornado’s favorite game?

A10: Twister

What is Monsoon and What Causes Rain? 15+ Water Science Experiments for Kids