What do the Clouds Tell Us?

Title: What do the Clouds Tell Us?
Description: Learn to identify the different kinds of clouds and what they tell us about the weather.
Season: A cloudy day
Length of Activity: 1 hour
Age: 4-adult

What do the Clouds Tell Us?

Clouds, as you may have already learned, are made up of water droplets or ice crystals that float through the sky. They have the ability to make sunsets and sunrises spectacular, or keep us indoors, hiding from rainy days. But not all clouds are created equal. In fact, there are 10 major cloud types divided into three major categories: high, middle and low level clouds.

Today we are going to learn about some of the most common types and how to identify them with a fun art project all about clouds.

Supplies and Tools needed:
● A copy of this book.
● blue cardstock paper (we used 12″ x 12″ size)
● green cardstock paper
● 1 piece of white paper
● cotton balls
● gray paint
● sponge brush
● markers
● scissors
● school glue

Getting started

Step 1: Take a look outside and see what the clouds are doing. Have a discussion about what the weather is like and what the clouds might have to do with it.

Step 2: Sit with your child and read the book Clouds by Anne Rockwell.

Step 3: Start by cutting out a small strip of grass from your green cardstock paper and glue it to the button of your blue cardstock paper. Use your markers to draw trees in your grass.

Step 4: With your Cloud book as a reference, make the different types of clouds out of cotton balls and glue them onto your blue cardstock paper. You will need to stretch and manipulate the cotton to resemble the clouds in your book.

Step 5: Write all the following names of clouds on your piece of white paper and cut them out.

Cirrostratus, Cirrus, Cirrocumulus, Altostratus, Altocumulus, Cumulonimbus, Cumulus Stratocumulus, Nimbostratus, Stratus

Step 6: Glue the names of the cloud types onto the cotton ball cloud they correspond to.

Taking it Deeper
Which clouds do you think tell us when rain is coming? What about a storm?

Further Reading
Here is a great resource, full with information and photos to test your understanding of different kinds of clouds.

Further Watching
Here is a great video that explains the 5 most common types of clouds and what they might be telling us about the weather.

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