Weather science: Cloud classification activities for kids

When we did our weather unit, I knew we had to include some activities to learn about clouds. Little did I know that there is an entire system in place for classifying clouds based on their shape and height in the sky. Classification is a key scientific skill, so this makes for a great weather science activity.

In this post I share some cloud classification activities for kids that are perfect for a weather unit study.

You’ll find more resources for learning about weather on Weather Unit Study page my Weather Activities Pinterest board. 

To learn about clouds, we of course started by reading books about clouds. I have already shared my review of books about clouds and other weather phenomena, but our favorite books for helping us to understand how clouds are classified was the book Clouds by Anne Rockwell.

Clouds includes a great infographic showing all of the cloud types on one page categorized by shape and height in the sky. After we reviewed the different cloud types, I printed off a set of cloud 3-part cards from the Pinay Homeschooler.

The kids sorted the cloud types by their height in the sky.

We also spent several mornings and afternoons searching for clouds in our sky. We brought our Clouds book with us to compare the cloud shapes in our sky with the cloud shapes in our book.

Indeed, for several weeks every time we would see clouds in the sky we would have a discussion about what type of cloud we thought it was.

More weather resources

More weather posts from Gift of Curiosity:

• Books about the weather
• Weather 3-part cards
• Water cycle demonstration
• Two ways to make a cloud in a jar
• Cloud classification craft
• Make it rain in a jar
• DIY weather vane
• Make a tornado in a bottle
• How do hurricanes form?
• Printable weather Bingo game
• Printable weather I Spy game