Rain Experiments for Kids: Flowing Objects

This rain experiment originally appeared on March 2, 2011.

Have you ever met a kid who didn’t love to play in the rain? We had a great time walking, splashing and learning in a downpour over the weekend. Lucky for me, Auntie L took over the instruction and I was able to stay behind the camera.

Rain Experiments for Kids: Flowing Objects

what you need: small objects, full gutters

We gathered objects from around the house.

We played around by dropping the objects into gutters. Some gutters were flat, some gutters on a slight slope. Some gutters had a little bit of water, some gutters were filled with water racing down hill.

Once we had some practice with the objects and the streams, we decided to use what we’d learned and have a little rain experiment. We would race our objects down a flowing gutter. Big M picked our course and we each picked our players.

Can you guess which object was the fastest? Auntie L won with the stick of fake butter. My penny didn’t even finish, sunk right to the bottom. (Does that sound planned?)

We had so much fun, learned a little and ran off some excess energy. Oh I love a rainy day!

Questions (to ask your kids): “What is the difference between the object that moves the fastest, and the one that moves the slowest?” “Does the object move the same no matter how it is pointed?” “Does the hill slope change the speed of the object?”

Tips (to maximize learning): 1. I had the activity planned and ready for the perfect rain fall. Not enough rain and the gutters would be empty. Too much rain and it would be a miserable walk. I kept an eye on the window and when I thought the timing was perfect we were ready to go. 2. I planned ahead. I had towels and robes waiting at the front door. I left the wet clothes on the porch, wrapped M and M, then it was off to a nice warm bath!