Learning Through Play: Ice Activity for Kids
It's been cold, and we're all stuck inside feeling a little bored. I decided to liven things up a bit by planning a fun ice activity for the kids.
Shh…don't tell them we were learning too!
I got a foil pan for each of them and had them gather up small toys from around the house. We filled each pan with water enough to submerge the items.
We had to wait until the next day before the pans of water were fully frozen.
When we pulled the pans out of the freezer, I told the kids they needed to figure out the best way to get their toys out of the ice.
“Oh, I know! We'll pry them out with a butter knife!”
But they soon discovered that wasn't very effective.
I began to try to help them think about what was necessary for the toys to be freed from the ice.
“Let's try putting water on it!” One said. They were getting somewhere, but they still weren't understanding that ice is hard because it is past the freezing point and to get it turned back to liquid they need to bring the temperature above freezing.
“Cold or warm?” I asked?
“Let's try cold!” they said.
I added a little cold water to each of their pans. The ice began to crack.
But it still did not help them pry their toys loose.
“Let's try hot water!”
The hot water melted the ice enough for them to dig out some of the items with effort, but the items still had hunks of ice stuck to them.
I made the suggestion to run the individual item under the hot water and see what happens.
They were amazed to watch the ice melt away.
Two of the kids immediately decided to put their entire pan under the hot water.
One child was still having too much fun excavating…
The kids had such a good time playing in the ice…I mean, learning about the freezing point and melting point of ice!
They kept telling me that I was the best mommy ever and that this was the “funnest” day they've ever had!
We will be doing more fun activities, kiddos.