Cloud Observation

What You Need:

• Cloud-filled sky
• Paper
• Pencil
• Colored markers

What You Do:

1. Have your child look up at a section of the sky and select a cloud.
2. Ask them to sketch a quick picture of the sky and to indicate the location of their cloud in the picture by outlining it with one of the colored markers.
3. As soon as they're done with the first sketch, have them look up at the same part of the sky again and make another sketch.
4. Have your child compare the two sketches and ask them to make some observations about their cloud. They might be able to observe that the cloud has moved very slowly, and they can chart which direction it moved. If they can't locate their cloud in the second sketch, they'll be able to assume that it moved across the sky very quickly.
5. Ask them about their observations of the cloud. Ask them why they think clouds move.
6. Have your child do this activity multiple times, then compare the different shapes, results, and movements of the clouds.

When you're working with an older child, you might want to encourage them to use a ruler to measure the number of inches or centimeters the cloud moved. From that information, challenge them to guess how far they think the cloud actually moved across the sky!