What are clouds?

Clouds are big bunches of tiny water drops or ice crystals floating in the sky.

Imagine you're playing with a bubble wand, every time you blow, you make a bubble that floats up and pops. Now imagine doing that millions of times, all at once, way up high in the air. That’s kind of what happens to make clouds!

When warm air rises from the ground, it carries with it water vapor, which is like invisible steam. As the air goes higher, it gets cooler. When the air cools down enough, the water vapor turns into tiny droplets, just like how your breath makes fog on a cold day.

These tiny droplets stick together and form groups, which we see as clouds. Some clouds are fluffy and white, like cotton candy; others look gray or dark when they’re full of heavy raindrops or ice crystals.

Clouds can look different because the air keeps moving around them, sometimes fast, sometimes slow. When the wind pushes the droplets together or pulls them apart, the clouds change shape, just like how your hair moves in the breeze!