Saturday STEAM Challenge – Watercolor Rain Cloud

Watercolor Rain Cloud

Explore color blending, painting, and gravity in this fun STEAM Challenge. You’ll need minimal materials to create your very own Watercolor Rain Cloud! Simply add watercolors doused in water to the top of the page, tilt your paper and watch the watercolors rain! Add cotton balls and Voila, your very own rain cloud!

Materials:
-Watercolor paper or white cardstock
-Watercolors
-Paintbrush
-Tape/binder clip
-Easel, large piece of cardboard, or clipboard
-Glue
-Cotton balls

Instructions:

  1. Take a piece of watercolor paper or white cardstock.
  2. Place the paper on an easel, clipboard, or piece of large cardboard. You can use a piece of tape or binder clip. Keep it flat for now.
  3. Mix water and liquid watercolors together to make the paint. Or use water colors but make it extra watery.
  4. With the paper flat, start at the top of the paper and add a decent amount of watercolor paint. Use blues and purples.
  5. Now tilt the paper so the paint will run down towards the bottom of the page.
  6. Add more color if need be.
  7. Let the paint dry.
  8. Add cotton balls to the top of the paper to create clouds!

Extra STEAM Challenges

  1. Color Mixing Challenge: Try using primary colors and observe what new colors form as they “rain” down.
  2. Gravity Test: Tilt your paper at different angles—what happens when you tilt it more or less?
  3. Pattern Play: Can you control the paint to create straight lines, zig-zags, or waves?
  4. Weather Twist: Add lightning bolts or a rainbow to your scene using markers or crayons.
  5. Layering Challenge: Let one layer dry, then add more “rain” on top to see how the colors change.

Observation Skills: Ask kids to describe how the paint moves and what changes they notice.

This hands-on activity encourages creativity while helping kids explore gravity, motion, and color blending in a fun and meaningful way.

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xo Shiny Happy Kids