Create some anticipation for cold weather play by making ice with your students.
When we returned to school after the winter holidays, we returned to cold, wet mud in our outdoor learning environment. Our part of Germany gets a lot of drizzly rain. That’s great for our mud kitchen play. However, after more than sixty-five days of wet mud, that had now turned into COLD, wet mud, the children and I were ready to play with something else.
We decided to invite Old Man Winter into our outdoor learning environment. Perhaps if we left him some containers of water, he would freeze them for us.
The children gathered up buckets, cups, moulds and bowls from the sandbox and mud kitchen. They filled them with water and then we waited.
It took over a week for the nighttime temperatures to drop enough to freeze the water.
Some days we found a paper thin layer of ice on top.
Some days the water was mostly frozen. It was fun to tilt and shake the containers to see the water and bubbles moving around under the thick layer of ice. The children couldn’t resist breaking the ice to release the water.
Finally, one day the water was frozen solid! There was unanimous agreement. The best thing to do with ice is smash it!
Waiting for ice to form is an exercise in patience. You can’t rush nature. You could add a mathematical element to this physical science experience by checking your outdoor thermometer each day as well.
We have containers of metal, plastic and silicone. The best material for making complete chunks of ice is silicone. Ice is easily freed from it. The children loved playing with the “icecakes”. I recommend using all materials so the children can learn how cold temperatures affect each one.
