Explore science with this 3D Water Cycle science project built with LEGOs®!
I love taking a not-so-easy-to-explain topic like The Water Cycle and turning it into a hands-on learning activity where you can see your child’s eyes light up as they begin to grasp the concept!
And water conservation for kids is SUPER important for them to understand.
The water cycle might seem like a complex topic but it’s really very simple — only 3 main parts.
And I LOVE to explain that the water we drink is the SAME water that the dinosaurs drank too (for some reason the idea of dinosaurs drooling in their water is appealing to kids, who knew?! 🙂
But explaining how that’s possible can be a little complicated which is why we’re going to BUILD a water cycle project — fun science for a detailed topic that breaks it into simple learning steps.
Water Cycle Project: 3D Model with LEGOs®
LEGOS® are one of the most common building toys in many homes and classrooms. And while we love them for spontaneous building sessions and colorful creations, they are also amazing learning manipulative toy.
A manipulative toy is one that allows a child to develop their motor skills & cognitive skills while playing.
Check out more manipulative ideas in our Clothespin Math Activities.
With this project, your kids are not only learning about environmental science, they are also honing fine motor skills as they build and expanding their cognitive skills while they visualize how to make the water cycle.
Hands-on science is so inspirational — but add in a LEGO® challenge and your kids will enjoy it even more! In addition to the project details, I’m also including affiliate links to items we used & recommend along with a free printable of Water Cycle science terms for you to use!
Obviously, the first thing you’ll need is a bunch of LEGOS® 🙂
This is a very open ended engineering project — no specific directions needed!
For the water cycle project, your kids will build a cloud, some land, water and the sun. Ideally, you can use white, green, blue and yellow LEGOS® which are found in most of the traditional LEGO building sets.
If you have yet to purchase a LEGO set for your child, we recommend the LEGO Classic Medium Creative Brick Box
We’ve also found it extremely helpful to have a LEGO Board/Baseplate 
This Click N’ Play Lego/DUPLO Baseplate Mat 
Books about the Water Cycle
We always recommend pairing our science projects with a great book — here are a few that are perfect for preschool or elementary students (heck, even middle school kids enjoy a picture book, right 😉
Water Cycle Books for Kids:
Down Comes the Rain (Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science 2)
Did a Dinosaur Drink This Water? (one of my favorites!) and
The Magic School Bus Wet All Over: A Book About The Water Cycle
I’m sure at least one of these can be found at your local libary!
Water Cycle Project: Building a 3D Science Model
A quick science refresher for all the adults 😉
The water cycle includes three main parts: precipitation, evaporation & condensation.
Basically, clouds produce some type of precipitation (rain/sleet/snow) which falls to Earth and then drains into our waters (lakes/rivers/oceans).
As the sun heats the atmosphere, droplets from those bodies of water begin to evaporate into the air (or atmosphere). Once the droplets reach the upper layers of the atmosphere, they condense and form clouds — and the cycle begins all over again.
Which is why we drink the same water as dinosaurs — water just recycles itself over and over.
Most kids don’t understand that water is a finite resource on Earth.
And although this can be a little challenging to explain, it’s often one of the early introductions to environmental science and shows them why it’s important to take care of our Earth.
We used a LEGO Baseplate to create our water cycle. This allows room for building a large picture while all the LEGOS are attached to the base so it’s mobile.
Step 1: Precipitation
Build a cloud and add some rain or snow.
We used some small gray bricks to indicate rainy weather on our water cycle project but let your kids go with whatever weather they’d like to create — you can play Mother Nature and whip up a storm if you’d like.
Then add some land below the cloud.
You might choose green or brown LEGOS. Or get fancy and add in some trees!
Now you have the first side of the water cycle — Precipitation.
Step 2: Evaporation
For the next part of the water cycle project, add some water next to the land mass.
You can also add a duck — but totally optional 😉
He just looked lonely sitting in our LEGO box all by himself.
Explain that the second part of the water cycle — evaporation — happens because of the heat the sun creates and radiates on bodies of water.
It kids are still a little iffy about this topic, try this easy science activity for kids to learn about water evaporation at home!
Step 3: Condensation
Then create a sun above the water.
This third part of the cycle – condensataion – is when water vapor in the air is transformed into clouds.
If these are new concepts, read Fun Ways to Teach Kids about Science for some easy ideas on showing kids what condensation looks like on a cold window.
Your water cycle project should look something like this —
- cloud with preciptation,
- land mass,
- body of water &
- sun.
The blue LEGOS between the water and sun represent evaporation.
Again, allow room for kids to be creative!
If they want a huge land mass with a river running through it, super! That works too.
The last step is explaining how the cycle works and what science terms are used to describe the various parts.
The Water Cycle & Kids: Learning Those BIG Words
If you’re working with kids under age 8, I suggest focusing on the main three terms — preciptation, evaporation & condensation — as they can be a mouthful to say and understand. I always like to use correct terminology no matter how old the child is as I feel it’s both beneficial and I NEVER want to underestimate what kids can grasp (believe me, they understand WAY more than we give them credit for on most days!)
If you have kids older than 8 years, you can also add in some of the additional terms which are printed in brown on the list — runoff, transpiration & collection.
FREE PRINTABLE LIST of Science Terms & Arrows for the Water Cycle
Print off the free list of terms to use as labels on your project. Cut out the arrows and science terms and tape them to LEGO blocks.
Then go through the water cycle and have the kids put the correct term where it occurs on your model.
Here’s our completed Water Cycle project.
You can see we don’t have the term ‘Transpiration’ on our model — transpiration is essentially evaporation of water from a plant or trees’ leaves.
Since we didn’t include any plants or trees in our project, we left this term off and just discussed it.
And no, I don’t think we can use it with the duck 😉
For Lego-lovers, try these 12 Earth-themed Lego STEM Activities!
For more fun hands-on learning, visit Teaching Kids about Water Conservation too!
20 MORE LEGO® ACTIVITIES
- LEGO Addition Mat for Greater Than/Less Than from Life Over C’s
- Duplo Lego Geoboard from Still Playing School
- Duplo Consonant Blends Activity from Learning 2 Walk
- Educational Playtime with Duplo – Sorting, Estimating and Building from Crafty Mama in ME
- LEGO DUPLO Sight Word Towers from Powerful Mothering
- Geometric Blueprints with LEGO from Handmade Kids Art
- Slippery Lego Duplo Fine Motor Practice from Best Toys 4 Toddlers
- Penguin Ice Cube Counting With LEGO from Preschool Powol Packets
- Word Building with LEGOS from Sugar Aunts
- Hands-on Science: Creating a Water Cycle Project using LEGO from Edventures with Kids
- Lego Tower Subtraction Race from The Kindergarten Connection
- Lego: 5 reasons you should use it with your kids from The Usual Mayhem
- Lego Heart Marble Maze from Lemon Lime Adventures
- Dumping Lego Colour Match Activity from Teach me Mommy
- Feed the Duplo Alien from Adventures of Adam
- How To Create A Duplo Block Painting from Raising Little Superheroes
- Letter Sequencing with Lego Duplo from School Time Snippets
- Lego ordering, days of the week from In The Playroom
- Dental Flossing with Duplo from Study at Home Mama
- LEGO Math Ten Frame Games from Lalymom
Explore science with this water cycle project created with LEGOs®!
I love taking a not-so-easy-to-explain topic like The Water Cycle and turning it into a hands-on learning activity where you can see your child’s eyes light up as they begin to grasp the concept!
And hands-on science is fun — but add in a LEGO® challenge and your kids will enjoy it even more!
The water cycle might seem like a complex topic but it’s really very simple — only 3 main parts — and I always love to explain that the water we drink is the SAME water that the dinosaurs drank too (for some reason the idea of dinosaurs drooling in their water is appealing to kids, who knew?! 🙂
But explaining how that’s possible can be a little complicated which is why we’re going to BUILD a water cycle project to help take a detailed topic and break it into simple learning steps.
Water Cycle Project: 3D Model with LEGOs®
LEGOS® are one of the most common building toys in many homes and classrooms. And while we love them for spontaneous building sessions and colorful creations, they are also amazing learning manipulative toy.
A manipulative toy is one that allows a child to develop their motor skills & cognitive skills while playing.
Check out more manipulative ideas in our Clothespin Math Activities.
With this project, your kids are not only learning about environmental science, they are also honing fine motor skills as they build and expanding their cognitive skills while they visualize how to make the water cycle. In addition to the project details, I’m also including affiliate links to items we used & recommend along with a free printable of Water Cycle science terms for you to use!
Obviously, the first thing you’ll need is a bunch of LEGOS® 🙂
This is a very open ended engineering project — no specific directions needed!
For the water cycle project, your kids will build a cloud, some land, water and the sun. Ideally, you can use white, green, blue and yellow LEGOS® which are found in most of the traditional LEGO building sets.
If you have yet to purchase a LEGO set for your child, we recommend the LEGO Classic Medium Creative Brick Box
We’ve also found it extremely helpful to have a LEGO Board/Baseplate
This Click N’ Play Lego/DUPLO Baseplate Mat
Books about the Water Cycle
We always recommend pairing our science projects with a great book — here are a few that are perfect for preschool or elementary students (heck, even middle school kids enjoy a picture book, right 😉
Water Cycle Books for Kids:
Down Comes the Rain (Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science 2)
Did a Dinosaur Drink This Water? (one of my favorites!) and
The Magic School Bus Wet All Over: A Book About The Water Cycle
I’m sure at least one of these can be found at your local libary.
Water Cycle Project: 3D Science Model
A quick science refresher for all the adults 😉
The water cycle includes three main parts: precipitation, evaporation & condensation.
Basically, clouds produce some type of precipitation (rain/sleet/snow) which falls to Earth and then drains into our waters (lakes/rivers/oceans).
As the sun heats the atmosphere, droplets from those bodies of water begin to evaporate into the air (or atmosphere). Once the droplets reach the upper layers of the atmosphere, they condense and form clouds — and the cycle begins all over again.
Which is why we drink the same water as dinosaurs — water just recycles itself over and over.
Most kids don’t understand that water is a finite resource on Earth.
And although this can be a little challenging to explain, it’s often one of the early introductions to environmental science and shows them why it’s important to take care of our Earth.
We used a LEGO Baseplate to create our water cycle. This allows room for building a large picture while all the LEGOS are attached to the base so it’s mobile.
Step 1: Precipitation
Build a cloud and add some rain or snow.
We used some small gray bricks to indicate rainy weather on our water cycle project but let your kids go with whatever weather they’d like to create — you can play Mother Nature and whip up a storm if you’d like.
Then add some land below the cloud.
You might choose green or brown LEGOS. Or get fancy and add in some trees!
Now you have the first side of the water cycle — Precipitation.
Step 2: Evaporation
For the next part of the water cycle project, add some water next to the land mass.
You can also add a duck — but totally optional 😉
He just looked lonely sitting in our LEGO box all by himself.
Explain that the second part of the water cycle — evaporation — happens because of the heat the sun creates and radiates on bodies of water.
Step 3: Condensation
Then create a sun above the water.
This third part of the cycle – condensataion – is when water vapor in the air is transformed into clouds.
If these are new concepts, read Fun Ways to Teach Kids about Science for some easy ideas on showing kids what evaporation & condensation look like at home.
Your water cycle project should look something like this — cloud with preciptation, land mass, body of water & sun. The blue LEGOS between the water and sun represent evaporation.
Again, allow room for kids to be creative!
If they want a huge land mass with a river running through it, super! That works too.
The last step is explaining how the cycle works and what science terms are used to describe the various parts.
The Water Cycle: Learning Those BIG Words
If you’re working with kids under age 8, I suggest focusing on the main three terms — preciptation, evaporation & condensation — as they can be a mouthful to say and understand. I always like to use correct terminology no matter how old the child is as I feel it’s both beneficial and I NEVER want to underestimate what kids can grasp (believe me, they understand WAY more than we give them credit for on most days!)
If you have kids older than 8 years, you can also add in some of the additional terms which are printed in brown on the list — runoff, transpiration & collection.
FREE PRINTABLE LIST of Science Terms & Arrows for the Water Cycle
Print off the free list of terms to use as labels on your project. Cut out the arrows and science terms and tape them to LEGO blocks.
Then go through the water cycle and have the kids put the correct term where it occurs on your model.
Here’s our completed Water Cycle project.
You can see we don’t have the term ‘Transpiration’ on our model — transpiration is essentially evaporation of water from a plant or trees leaves.
Since we didn’t include any plants or trees in our project, we left this term off and just discussed it.
And no, I don’t think we can use it with the duck 😉
For more fun hands-on learning, visit Teaching Kids about Water Conservation too!
20 MORE LEGO® ACTIVITIES
- LEGO Addition Mat for Greater Than/Less Than from Life Over C’s
- Duplo Lego Geoboard from Still Playing School
- Duplo Consonant Blends Activity from Learning 2 Walk
- Educational Playtime with Duplo – Sorting, Estimating and Building from Crafty Mama in ME
- LEGO DUPLO Sight Word Towers from Powerful Mothering
- Geometric Blueprints with LEGO from Handmade Kids Art
- Slippery Lego Duplo Fine Motor Practice from Best Toys 4 Toddlers
- Penguin Ice Cube Counting With LEGO from Preschool Powol Packets
- Word Building with LEGOS from Sugar Aunts
- Hands-on Science: Creating a Water Cycle Project using LEGO from Edventures with Kids
- Lego Tower Subtraction Race from The Kindergarten Connection
- Lego: 5 reasons you should use it with your kids from The Usual Mayhem
- Lego Heart Marble Maze from Lemon Lime Adventures
- Dumping Lego Colour Match Activity from Teach me Mommy
- Feed the Duplo Alien from Adventures of Adam
- How To Create A Duplo Block Painting from Raising Little Superheroes
- Letter Sequencing with Lego Duplo from School Time Snippets
- Lego ordering, days of the week from In The Playroom
- Dental Flossing with Duplo from Study at Home Mama
- LEGO Math Ten Frame Games from Lalymom