Been really slacking on my blog posting lately. We’ve been busy getting ready for the summer… Cleaning up the yard, changing over to summer
clothes (a never ending tasks with 3 boys!), AND getting ready for Michael’s
DUMP EVERYTHING 2nd birthday party (promise to share the details of
it once it’s over!). We’ve also done
quite a few warm weather activities that I am getting ready to share as
well! The heat of the past few days
should have you thinking WATER! I think
there are few little ones out there that don’t like to play with water, so I
will be sure to share many water experiences, but I’d also like to share some
fun things you can do with ice cubes!
My boys, Michael inparticular, love to play with ice
cubes. Put an ice cube in their drink on
a hot day and they are definitely sticking their hands in there, playing with
it, inevitably dropping it on the floor, and then asking for another. It finally clicked that maybe taking out some
ice cubes for the actual purpose of playing with them would be a hit. I’ve found quite a few ideas for ice cube
play so stay tuned for more activities, but this is the one we tried today.
The cool (no pun intended) things about playing with ice
cubes is that it can be done in a few places to create new experiences each
time – inside, outside and definitely the tub – AND it’s not something you have
to buy anything to do!
Here’s what you’ll need:
Plastic containers (cups, small containers, baby food
containers, etc.)
Water
Small toys (matchbox cars, pretend bugs, play jewelry, etc.)
THAT’S IT!
The only tough part is you have to wait for them to freeze,
so I would recommend putting it together the night before and if it’s a hit
with your little ones, then always have some ready in the freezer.
First, fill your plastic containers with water, then drop a
small toy in each one. My boys have
really been getting into dinosaurs lately so I used the small dinosaur figures
we have. Place them in your
freezer. You’ll have to check to see
when yours are done based on how large your containers are of course.
We first tried this activity indoors on this rainy, dreary
day. I gave the boys a big plastic
container to play with them in and put a towel under their play space of
course. Since we were doing this indoors
and it wasn’t very hot, I also gave them a bin of warm weather. Our cubes were large so it would be hard to
get them to melt without a little extra warmth.
We talked about how COLD the ice was at first. It was also a good lesson in FREEZING and
MELTING. We saved some ice cubes for
when Hubby came home and it was great to see both boys explain in their own way
what they were doing and how it worked!
RETELL is such an important language skill!
I am certain that the cubes will end up in your little ones
mouth eventually (as you can see in our pictures!), so BE SURE TO CLOSELY SUPERVISE!!! The ice cube and/or toy can be a CHOKING
HAZARD.
I now have a stash of ice cubes with small toys in my
freezer – next we’re trying it in the bath tub!
Hope you try this ice cube activity either tonight in the
tub or on the next hot day! Let me know
how it goes!
Love & Language,
Marisa