Mini Monets and Mommies: Christmas Melting Ice Art and Science Kids' Activity

It’s almost Christmas! And that means – red and green food colored ice? Ok, in this case it does. Combining art, science, math and engineering (STEAM without the technology) gets kids thinking, doing, making and imagining. It also helps to build fine motor skills, creativity and much, much more.

I’m a fan of using colorful ice for kids’ art and science activities. We’ve done primary color paintings this way, made Frozen-themed glitter paint and most recently made a melting Hanukkah menorah. So, now it’s time for a red and green Christmas ice art and science exploration.

Let’s start with a prediction. Before you even make the ice, ask your child to predict what he thinks will happen when you pop the colorful water into the freezer. As you go through the activity, ask a few open-ended questions such as, “What’s happening to the water?”, “What do you think will happen to the ice as it sits in the sun?” or, “What do you think will happen to paper under the ice?” Go through the activity and take a cue from your child. If these questions aren’t working for you, come up with your own based on what he’s doing and seeing.

Here’s What You’ll Need:

· Red and green food coloring

· Water

· Ice cube trays

· Card stock paper (the thickness works well with the melting ice)

Here’s What to Do:

1. Add a drop of either red or green food coloring into the ice cube tray compartments. Make as many red and as many green cubes as you and your child want. You can also try making a few in different shapes or sizes (use different shapes of trays).

2. Pour water over the food coloring and stir.

3. Put the trays into the freezer until the water turns into ice.

4. Take the trays out of the freezer and pop the cubes out.

5. Set a few cubes onto the paper (use white or add red and greed Christmas colors of paper). Put the paper and cubes in a sunny spot and observe to see how quickly the ice melts. Make sure to put something such as cardboard or a plastic bag under the paper to catch any liquid.

6. Move the cubes around to make melted water colors.

Or you can get your little engineer building…

1. Build a Christmas tree shape with the ice cubes.

2. Press a piece of white paper on top. Ask your child is he can feel the cold through the paper. You can also swap in a piece of craft foam or felt to make comparisons.

3. Peel the paper off to reveal a print.