perfect summer series: ice sensory play ideas

It wouldn’t be a perfect summer for my kids if they wouldn’t get to explore the ice sensory play! What a pleasure it is for a child, to get to play with cold, melting and intriguing material on a hot summer day! Both of my kids ( now 17 months and three and a halth years old) loved these two activities, and where occupied for over 30 minutes ( my older one even longer). And they didn’t took me more than 5 minutes to prepare, so I got to be a cool mom, without no real merit!

Here is what happens when you freeze some plastic toys : all of the sudden they become irresistible! That’s why:

– they are hidden and hard to get
– they are intriguing and surprising
– your child needs to come up with the way to get them out

And I think that it teaches them:
– patience
– creativity
– and they learn about water and it’s qualities

So get some plastic figurines. Put then in a plastic container with water, and dump in a freezer over night. Get it out the next day, and let them explore.

You might add some cloth wipes, and warm water in another bowl.

At some point I helped her with the melting process, and we’ve poured some hot water on it (in a sink in the kitchen). And when the dogs where free, all of a sudden they’ve became my older daughters favourite toys for a whole day! ( oh, the amazing effect of the new toy).

So I’ll be for freezing some more toys this summer!

And this ice cubes sensory play was my baby’s favourite: she was mesmerized by the colourful cubes, melting there and painting the sidewalk.

All you need is :
Ice tray
Water
Food colouring

Make ice in the ice tray, and add a drop to food colouring. Let it freeze.

And let them play. I added some paint brushes, and they really liked it!

Just remember to dress them in cloths that are easy to wash, because thy will get dirty!
But since we can either have clean or happy kids, I guess that’s fine.

Do you organize ice play for your kids ?