Play Activities with Ice

We need something to bash them out - let's try a spoon. — We need something to bash them out – let’s try a spoon.

Look, I broke a piece. The fish is coming out.

I made a hole - grab the fish. — I made a hole – grab the fish.

Help it's sticking to my hand, what do I do now. Can you pull it off? — Help it’s sticking to my hand, what do I do now. Can you pull it off?

Look, I broke it in half - I can see a penguin. — Look, I broke it in half – I can see a penguin.

Ice mummy! I love ice. Bash, bash , bash.

We've found all the animals, can we have more ice? We added crushed ice from the ice machine on the fridge. — We’ve found all the animals, can we have more ice? We added crushed ice from the ice machine on the fridge.

This is a great activity for water trays in pre-school settings but works even better outside, if you are in a cold climate set up a water tray outside and let nature do its work.

Other Ideas and Questions to ask Children

Add colour to the ice using food colouring or bath colours. Using a dark colour so the children have to guess what is hidden in the ice.
Put a small amount of warm water into the tray. Add the coloured ice. What happens to the water? What happens to the ice.
Sprinkle glitter into water – leave it in the freezer or outside overnight. What happens when it melts?
You are not allowed to bash the ice, how else could you get the animals out?
Can you find any more ice in the garden?
What would happen if we froze a leaf or berries? If we hang them from a tree how long will they take to melt? What happens when they are melting?
The ice sticks to your gloves, what else will it stick to? Why does it only stick to some things?

11 thoughts on “Play Activities with Ice”

Can we freeze paint and then use the paint blocks to make pictures as they melt?
Can we put small ice cubes in different places? Which melts first? Why?
What shapes of ice can we find in different places outside? (eg. in plant pots, trays etc.)

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rightfromthestart says:

January 5, 2013 at 9:52 pm

Thanks for your suggestions. I’ve done the frozen paint activity before it works really well. I’ll have to dig out the photos .

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This reminds me of the dinosaur excavation kits my kids used to have. Such a simple idea with the ice but good fun and educational too. I bet the colour ones you mention would be fun to try. Thank you for sharing the idea on Country Kids.

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i keep meaning to try this after seeing a post elsewhere ages ago, i just don’t have much room in my freezer! i think its such a simple yet great learning tool. brillaint stuff i must remember to do this soon x

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this is such a brilliant activity, they look like they had so much fun xx

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We had a lot of fun with ice too recently, making decorations and balancing on it. A lovely idea to hide toys inside too x

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That reminds me, I have two ice blocks full of glitter and sequins that my kiddies prepared when we had snow. I obviously forgot all about them. Oops!

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It looks like you had a great time investigating the ice. In the recent cold spell we also froze water coloured with food colouring which my son loved playing with and watching melt into the white snow.

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