Winter: Day Three

Cold as Ice

In winter, and when it's cold outside, water can freeze into ice. When the temperature warms up, the ice will melt!

Books:
Frozen Noses--Jan Carr, Dorothy Donahue
Hello, Snow--Hope Vestergarrd, Nadine Bernard Westcott
First Snow--Emily Arnold McCully

Songs:

I'm a Little Ice Cube
(tune: I'm a Little Teapot)

I'm a little ice cube, frosty and square,
I make things icy cold everywhere.
If it gets too warm, I better watch out,
"Cause I will melt, there is no doubt.

Activities:

Ice Cube Painting

The day before place water in ice cube trays. Cover the tray with aluminum foil. Cut small slits in the foil and place ice cream sticks or craft sticks through the slits in the foil covering the ice cube trays.

Give the children heavy paper with powdered tempera paint sprinkle on it. Have the children run their ice cubes over the powdered tempera paint. Lay folded paper towels on the table for the children to lay their ice cubes onto.

COLOR ICE - Colors
In ice cube trays, make ice cubes tinted separately with red, yellow, and blue food coloring. Set out clear-plastic glasses of water. Then let your children try making three new colors by dropping two different colored ice cubes into each glass. Lead them to see that mixing red and yellow makes orange, mixing red and blue makes purple, and mixing blue and yellow makes green.

Talk with children about some of the colors that are considered "cool" colors--blues, greens, purples. Let children practice mixing colors to create a icy, winter scene.

Ice Cube Racers

Use food coloring to make different colors of water. Place the colored water into ice cube trays. Set up an ice cube race track by placing a smooth board on a chair. Set out the ice cubes. Let the children choose their ice cube, put it at the top of the race track and watch it race down to the bottom.

Melting Experiments

Directions:

• Use several ice cubes to study ice melting patterns. Stick one ice cube outside, one ice cube in your classroom, one in a refrigerator (or ice chest) and one in a blender. Have your children predict the order in which the ice cubes will melt. Observe the ice cubes and compare the results to your children's predictions.

Slippery Roads

Directions:

• Fill an 8x12" pan with water and freeze. Place it on your science table with toy cars. Let your children drive the cars across the ice. You can also sprinkle salt or sand across the ice to see how it affects the road conditions.

Frosty Windows

Directions:

• Help your children create frosty windows in your classroom. Provide your children with 1/2 hot hot water mixed with 1/2 cup Epsom salt and a paint brush. The mix will dry leaving crystals and snow design on your classroom window.

Ice Skating

Directions:

• Cut two 12" square pieces of wax paper for each child in your class. Punch two holes, on opposite sides from one another on each sheet, tie a piece of string through each hole and tie it around your child's shoe smooth side down. Play some classical music and watch your children ice skate around the carpet.

Frosty Bubbles

Directions:

• Refrigerate your bubble solution until you are ready to go outside, to tempreatures at or below freezing. Take the bubbles outside and use a wand to make bubbles. Watch as crystals form on the bubbles.

Cold Palentologist

Directions:

• Freeze small toy dinosaurs (or other toys) into Ice cubes and then let your children use a small mallet to break them out. OR Fill several compartments of an ice cube tray with water. Let your children help drop a different small object, such as a stone, a paper clip, a penny, or a pasta piece, into each of the compartments. Place the tray in the freezer. When the cubes have set, ask the children to try guessing which object is in each cube. Then let them melt the cubes with warm water to check their guesses.

Snacks:
Igloo Snack

Ice Cube Snacks--Pour water into ice cube trays and let children drop a small piece of fruit into each compartment. Put the tray in the freezer until frozen solid. At snack time, serve cubes in glasses of ginger ale, flavored water, or juice.