Types of Clouds interactive exercise - Free Printable

Let’s match each cloud picture to its correct name by looking at what each type looks like.

Step 1: Look at the first picture (top).
It shows thin, wispy clouds that look like streaks or feathers across the sky. These are high-up clouds and are called Cirrus clouds.

Step 2: Look at the second picture (middle).
This one has puffy, cotton-like clouds with flat bases and rounded tops — they look like little piles of cotton balls. These are Cumulus clouds.

Step 3: Look at the third picture (bottom).
Wait — actually, let’s double-check! The bottom picture shows big, towering, fluffy clouds that can grow into storm clouds. But in this worksheet, we’re matching based on standard types shown. Actually, looking again — the middle image is more typical Cirrus (wispy), and the top image might be Stratus? Wait — no, let’s fix this.

Actually, let’s go by standard definitions:

- Cirrus: Thin, wispy, feathery clouds high in the sky → matches the *middle* picture.
- Cumulus: Puffy, cotton-ball clouds with flat bottoms → matches the *bottom* picture.
- Stratus: Flat, gray, layer-like clouds that cover the sky like a blanket → but none of these pictures show that clearly. Wait — the *top* picture shows long, stretched-out bands — that’s actually more like Cirrostratus or just Cirrus? Hmm.

Wait — let’s re-express simply for a student:

Looking at common school-level matching:

✔ Top picture: Long, thin, streaky clouds → Cirrus

✔ Middle picture: Wispy, curly, feather-like → also Cirrus? No — wait, maybe I mixed them up.

Actually, let’s use the most obvious visual clues:

- The bottom picture is clearly big, puffy, white clouds — that’s classic Cumulus.
- The middle picture is very wispy and spread out — that’s Cirrus.
- The top picture shows layered, band-like clouds — that’s often called Stratus (though technically it might be altostratus or cirrostratus, but for elementary level, it’s matched as Stratus).

But wait — in many textbooks:

- Cirrus = wispy, high, feathery → middle image
- Cumulus = puffy, cotton-like → bottom image
- Stratus = flat, uniform layers → top image (even though it’s not perfectly flat, it’s the closest)

So final matching:

Top image → Stratus
Middle image → Cirrus
Bottom image → Cumulus

But the labels on the right are listed as:

Cumulus
Stratus
Cirrus

We need to draw lines from each picture to the correct label.

So:

→ Top picture (streaky bands) → Stratus
→ Middle picture (wispy feathers) → Cirrus
→ Bottom picture (puffy towers) → Cumulus

Yes — that makes sense.

Final Answer:
Top picture → Stratus
Middle picture → Cirrus
Bottom picture → Cumulus