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You are here: Home / Easy Science Experiments / Shaving Cream Rain Clouds Science Experiment

Shaving Cream Rain Clouds Science Experiment

Published May 1, 2020. Last updated May 1, 2020 by Liz. This post may contain affiliate links.

The shaving cream rain clouds science experiment is quick, easy, and lots of fun for young kids. You can easily demonstrate to your child how a common weather event works with this simple experiment.

In the “shaving cream rain clouds” experiment, the shaving cream represents a cloud, and the water represents the atmosphere. When you add food coloring to the shaving cream, the weight of it will push through the surface of the shaving cream, just like rain pushes through the clouds and falls to the earth!

We tried the experiment several times at my house – the kids loved it, and I actually enjoyed it myself. It makes it easy to explain how condensation builds up and creates rain. Plus the shaving cream smells really good, so that’s a bonus.

Materials

  • Shaving cream
  • Clear jar (or glass, pitcher, whatever!)
  • Water
  • Food coloring
Materials for experiment

Method (The Quick Steps)

  • Fill your jar up 3/4 of the way to the top with water
  • Shake up the shaving cream
  • Spray a layer of shaving cream onto the top of the water. Make sure to cover the surface of the water
  • Add lots of drops of food coloring to the top of the shaving cream
  • Watch as the food coloring works its magic!

The Shaving Cream Rain Clouds Experiment (With Photos)

As you can see my kid was a little over-zealous with the shaving cream! You may want to knock a little off the top so it doesn’t look like a giant gnome-head, but that’s really up to you. If you like garden gnomes, by all means proceed with abandon.

There, that’s better. A reasonable amount of shaving cream.

shaving cream in jar

You can add the food coloring a few drops at a time. It will look like this:

food coloring on shaving cream

Or you can let your kid mix the food coloring with water, and then drizzle it over the top using an eye dropper or medicine dispenser! This isn’t necessary, it just adds a bit of fun for your kid.

  • boy adding food coloring to small glass jars
  • boy with food coloring in medicine dropper

Experiment with doing it both ways! My son LOVED drizzling the food coloring over the top of the shaving cream with his little medicine dispenser. If that’s what it takes for him to live his best life right now, so be it.

It looked delicious! You may want to remind your kid not to eat it. And also remind yourself if you’re the type to eat children’s science experiments. 🙂

Within a few seconds, the food coloring will begin to drizzle down below the surface of the shaving cream.

As you can see, once the food coloring (aka “rain”) gets heavy enough to break through the shaving cream (aka “clouds”), you get a rainstorm!

rain cloud effect

If your child is a straight-laced type he or she might like to do the experiment using just blue food coloring.

(Not that rain is blue, but I guarantee if you have a little realist on your hands they’ll choose blue because kids always seem to think water is blue despite the fact that it’s quite apparently not blue.)

But I digress. We thought it was fun to use lots of different colors at the same time.

rain cloud experiment

You could also line up a few jars like in the video below, and watch the colors fall side by side! The sky’s the limit here. Assuming the sky is the size of a small glass jar.

The Science Behind the Shaving Cream Rain Clouds Experiment

Clouds form when water when vapor rises into the air. Condensation then builds up in the clouds. As it gets heavier, gravity pulls the water down out of the clouds and through the atmosphere. And we get rain falling from the sky!

Why I Like This Experiment

This experiment hits all the marks for me – it’s easy, it requires no prep and only two “materials” (shaving cream and food coloring). And it actually demonstrates something that kids will relate to (how rain works).

The kids had a great time, including my toddler, who I let muck around with food coloring mixed into shaving cream while we were running the experiment.

Everyone was happy. Including me.

  • boy with food coloring in medicine dropper
  • toddler playing with colored shaving cream

Shaving Cream Rain Clouds

rain cloud experiment

The shaving cream rain clouds science experiment demonstrates how rain falls from the sky!

When you put food coloring on top of shaving cream (aka "clouds"), the weight of it pushes through the surface, just like rain pushes through the clouds and falls from the sky.

Prep Time 2 minutes
Active Time 3 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes
Difficulty Easy
Estimated Cost Under $5

Materials

  • Shaving Cream
  • Clear Jar
  • Water
  • Food Coloring

Tools

  • None

Instructions

    1. Fill your jar up 3/4 of the way to the top with water
    2. Shake up the shaving cream
    3. Spray a layer of shaving cream onto the top of the water.
    4. Add lots of drops of food coloring to the top of the shaving cream
    5. Watch as the food coloring works its magic!

Notes

This experiment is appropriate for Kindergarteners or Preschoolers.

Category: Easy Science Experiments

If you’re looking for more easy science experiments for kids, you might want to try these ideas:

Magic Water: Water Suspension Science Experiment for Kids

5 Minute Fizzy Fun Jar

10 Quick and Simple STEM Activities for Kindergarten


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Filed Under: All Posts, Easy Science Experiments

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Welcome to the Mothership!

Hi! I'm Liz, mom to 3 young kids. Like all of you, I have tons of free time on my hands to ponder the complexities of motherhood. Ok I have almost no time, these kids are taking me down. I write this blog to find camaraderie with the rest of you in the trenches. Welcome! Read More…

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