6 Ice Activities For Kids At Home
Cool down this summer with these ice activities that you can do with your children at home! From ice bowling to ice excavations, it’s amazing how versatile (and fun!) ice can be.
1. Ice Bowling
Bowling is a fun activity that kids of all ages love, but it’s even more fun with a bowling ball that’s made of ice! Make your ice bowling ball by filling up a balloon with water and freezing it overnight. You could add a few drops of food coloring to make a colorful ball. Then set up your pins made of water bottles filled with water and food coloring and let your kids play! If your “bowling alley” is concrete, try watering it down to help the ice bowling ball roll better.
2. Frozen Water Beads Play
Ice activities for toddlers and preschoolers are great to do outside when it’s hot. This frozen water beads play activity includes a ball of ice that has water beads imbedded in it. Have your child hold it, dip it in a tank of water, and move it around to let it melt. Gradually, the water beads will come out and your kid will feel accomplished after all of his hard work!
3. Ice Chalk
Drawing on concrete driveways and sidewalks with chalk is one of the many pleasures of childhood. Take it up a notch this summer by making ice chalk for your kids to draw with. What’s more, there are so many different ways to make ice chalk, as evidenced here. Get creative with the shape and colors of your ice chalk!
4. Arctic Ice Sensory Play
If your child loves to play with animal figurines, this ice activity will be a hit! Freeze a small tank of water, but put in a small plastic bowl to make a hole in the ice before you put it in the freezer. Then when the water is froze, pull out a bowl and pour in lukewarm water to create an arctic environment. Bring in arctic animals and let your kid use their imagination.
5. Painting on Ice
What kid doesn’t like to paint? But painting on ice is just a bit cooler. This ice activity is something they can do when it’s too hot outside to play or to cool down after a long day in the sun. Freeze a pie pan filled with a mixture of water and baking soda and then have your kids paint on it. When the ice is all painted, rinse the paint off with water and you’ll have a new blank slate for more art! Paint, paint, and paint until all the ice has melted away.
6. Ice Excavations
These ice excavations are similar to the frozen water beads play, but they are perfect for older children who love to experiment with various tools. The basic idea is to freeze a group of items in a big block of ice and give kids a few tools to melt down the ice to reach the items. Tools could include a turkey baster, Kosher salt, play syringes, wooden spoons, and whatever else you can find. You could freeze a rainbow ice tower with bead necklaces and other colorful items, a large square of ice filled with plastic toys found around the house, or small ice squares that hold dinosaur bones inside. How fun!
Try these ice activities to cool down the kids and to give you a few minutes of summer relaxation. What other ice activities have you seen or tried in the past? Share away!
For more ideas for activities to do with the kids, check out 10 Fantastic Tin Can Crafts for Kids and Cheap or Free Toys For Gross Motor Development.
Featured image courtesy of Fun at Home with Kids.
