Fun with Melting Ice

ages 2-6

Supplies

Small toys, empty and clean milk carton, water, your freezer

Activity Detail

Kids will love this game of watching a toy slowly melt out of a block of ice. Begin by cutting the top off an empty, clean milk carton. Put a toy inside and fill the milk carton with water -- you don't have to fill it all the way, just enough to comfortably cover the toy. Then put the milk carton in the freezer until frozen solid. Once it has frozen, peel the milk carton away from the block and put in a sink or bathtub. Watch the little ones anxiously wait until the ice melts so that they can get their toy!! (First time, it's pretty cute seeing the little ones not being able to grasp the concept that their toy is not easily accessible.) With older children, you can practice telling time by guessing how long it is going to take for the ice to melt.