Cloud in a Jar

We have been studying weather and, wow, what a weather month it is!  We are experiencing temperatures 40 degrees higher than last year at this time.  We have observed many types of precipitation, too.  As a companion activity, we tried the "Cloud in a Jar" experiment today.  

Our first attempt did not work so well.  After researching further, we found we needed to light a match, hold it in the jar for a few seconds, and then drop it in the hot water (with an emphasis on NOT playing with matches/having adult supervision).  It seems we hadn't given the water molecules anything to attach to.  So.... the second time around, the smoke from the match gave the molecules something to cling to.  Using a flashlight to shine on the cloud helped, too.  We had the lights out, but putting a piece of black paper behind the jar might be effective, too.