Are you looking for a fun and interactive activity for kids? Try making frozen flower ice cubes! Not only is it a great sensory play idea, but it also helps teach children about nature and plants. Learn how to make these beautiful ice cubes with this easy tutorial. We also share some of the science behind them.
Beat the heat with this fun hands-on frozen flowers sensory ice play – I know that when it comes to keeping kids occupied water is often the key and these beautiful nature ice cubes are a beautiful STEM sensory invitation to play whilst the children play with they will be exercising their fine motor controls and dexterity. Plus you can add a little science into the mix too depending on the age of the kids. Preschoolers are naturally inquisitive so this is a brilliant age for this activity
We have made ice treasures before where I froze small toys such as LEGO Minifigures, plastic animals and mini dinosaurs in yoghurt pots, which goes to show that you can use what you have and don’t need any special materials. I would think twice about using glitter, beads or sequins as kids do tend to put ice in their mouths and it is better to be safe.
Top Tip: Use food colouring to colour some of the water, this is taste-safe and a fun way to make colorful ice cubes
Frozen lowers sensory ice play doesn’t just have to be a summer activity (although it is perfect for warm days in the backyard or garden), why not free pinecones or other seasonal nature items and make it an all-year-round water or sensory table activity? I would just say that this can get a little messy, so if you are doing inside pop a couple of towels on the floor, alternately you could even introduce it to bath time!
You can freeze any flower type, but why not make an adventure from collecting them too and use seasonal ones like daisies, dandelions or buttercups?
How to Make Frozen Flowers Ice Cubes
Materials
- Flowers, leaves, pinecones, etc.
- Water
- Silicone mould or ice-cube tray
Instructions
- Add the nature items into your mould.
- Fill with water.
- Freeze overnight.
- Remove from mould and enjoy!
How to make the ice cubes crystal clear?
It is really hard to make your ice cubes crystal clear. You would need to use a method called directional freezing, which is really difficult with a home freezer, however, there are a couple of things we can do to make it clearer.
Firstly boil and cool the water you are using. It is recommended to do this twice before using. Boiling the water helps eliminate air and impurities and leads to ice that is clearer than standard but is not crystal clear
Similar to boiled water, distilled water will not deliver crystal-clear ice. Distilled water is made by collecting steam from boiling water, which helps remove salts, minerals, and other organic materials found in tap water. Also tap water is free and distilled isn’t cheap!
Frozen Sensory Play Activity Tools
You don’t need to purchase lots of additional items to enhance this unique sensory experience for your kids. Eye droppers, old toothbrushes, a spray bottle with warm water would be enough or even a container of warm water and the syringes used for kids’ medication. However, if you do want to make it a little more interesting for your kids when they do their ice excavation then use motor tools such as tweezers and water droppers work so well. You could also give them a selection of ingredients to try and see if they make a difference like salt, sugar, lemon juice and vinegar and then discuss the chemical reactions.
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