Painting with ice

It has been really cold out! (obviously, since it is January). Everytime we go outside Connor says "burr cold." So I thought we should do something to reinforce the hot/cold concept he has become interested in. So I decided to paint with ice. The night before I put water in an ice tray, and dropped lots of food coloring in each. Then I put plastic wrap over it. I cut up straws and punched them through the plastic into each ice cube. In the freezer it went!

When they were done, I took off plastic wrap and popped them out! This is what they looked like!

Connor and the others LOVED painting with them! They used different colors and mixed them. This allowed us to talk about the different colors they make when mixed. We also talked about hott vs cold, ice, water, solid, liquid, and they learned the word "melting." This was a great activity to introduce many basic scientific terms, and it was lots of fun!

This would also make an awesome summer activity since ice would melt faster, and may be a fun way to 'cool down.'