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in Spring STEM Activities

Puffy Paint Types of Clouds for Kids

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If you’re studying weather, then learning about types of clouds for kids is a must! These puffy paint clouds are the perfect STEAM activity for learning about types of clouds.

As someone who grew up around aviators (I was part of Civil Air Patrol in high school), the weather has always been something to note.

For pilots, the right weather conditions can mean the difference between flying or being grounded, so I always tend to keep an eye out on the current weather conditions and identifying cloud types.

This STEM activity is a fun science experiment for kids to learn about the different kinds of clouds. It’s the perfect addition to your spring STEM activities!

Help your children learn about clouds and weather with this activity for identifying cloud types using puff paint! A great STEM activity for kids.

For this activity, Monkey and Bo learned about different types of clouds, what they mean, and how to make their own clouds from puff paint using STEM activities.

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience.  

steam challenge cards

4 Types of Clouds for Kids Using Puffy Paint

Making these puffy paint clouds is a fun way to learn about various cloud types.

If you’re in a rush, these are our favorite weather science kits.

Supplies for the cloud STEM activity:

  • Puff paint recipe (we used this one from Meaningful Mama)
  • Shaving cream
  • Glitter glue (we used blue)
  • Flour
  • Large bowl
  • Paintbrushes
  • Blue cardstock paper
Help your children learn about clouds and weather with this activity for identifying cloud types using puff paint! A great STEM activity for kids.

Types of Clouds and What They Mean

Before we started, we looked at this cloud map from Weather STEM. We discussed the types of clouds and when they form. We didn’t go over every cloud type (our paper was too small), but we discussed the clouds listed below:

Cumulonimbus: Huge, heavy clouds taking up most of the sky. These clouds usually indicate, rain, lightening, storms, hail, and ice. You see them a lot where we live in Texas.

Cirrus: Wispy, small clouds seen high in the sky. They are usually filled with ice and indicate a warm front is approaching.

Cumulus: The pretty, “picture perfect” clouds. You will usually see these after a few clear days after a storm, but they don’t indicate a storm is approaching.

Cirrostratus: These clouds cover a large surface area and look fog-like, but higher up in the sky. When this type of cloud is lower in the sky, it is called a stratus cloud and usually produces fog, drizzle, and cooler temperatures.

Stratocumulus: These clouds are layered cloud clumps spread throughout the sky at different elevations. They usually show up in lines or streaks and may or may not bring rain.

Nimbostratus: Nimbostratus clouds are similar to stratus clouds, but are usually darker in color, lower, and more likely to bring bad weather. Often, nimbostratus clouds cover most of the visible sky.

Help your children learn about clouds and weather with this activity for identifying cloud types using puff paint! A great STEM activity for kids.

Making Puff Paint Cloud Types for Kids

To make our clouds, we used a 12X12 piece of blue cardstock (necessary to not get soggy while using puff paint).

We mixed the puff paint recipe recommended by Meaningful Mama, but we doubled the amount of shaving cream. The kids went a bit shaving cream crazy, but the effect was perfect for making clouds.

The kids took paintbrushes and made their own clouds after identifying cloud types. After the clouds dried, we labeled them with a pencil.

Bo changed her paper into a giant glob of puff paint. She got paint EVERYWHERE and had to be bathed after.

Because this project is so messy for young ones, I don’t recommend it for young children in a setting where they don’t have access to a bathtub.

Help your children learn about clouds and weather with this activity for identifying cloud types using puff paint! A great STEM activity for kids.
steam challenge cards

More STEM Activity Ideas

Want an easy way to teach kids how clouds form? This simple science experiment for kids is the perfect "wow" demonstration.
spring stem challenge cards



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Filed Under: Spring STEM Activities Tagged With: elementary, weather

About Brenda Priddy

Brenda grew up thinking she hated science.

But when her 4-year- old daughter was more interested in reading science facts than fairy tales, Brenda realized she had to learn more about science to keep up with her daughter.

Through simple at-home science experiments, Brenda developed a passion for science and now acts as an advocate for STEM education for kids at her website STEAMsational.com.

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What is STEAM?

STEAM activities for kids promote the idea that science, technology, engineering, art, and math can all work together to help kids become critical thinkers, problem solvers, and innovators!

Join us on our journey to discover just how much fun science experiments can be.

What we do… 

STEAMsational offers STEM and science lesson plans and teaching resources to provide a firm STEM foundation for children in the classroom or home.

All you need to do is find your supplies, gather your scientists, and let the innovation unfold.

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