Ice, Ice baby!

Okay, I recently discovered a blog called Let's Explore, and they have awesome activity ideas for preschoolers. I absolutely loved their idea for Ice Treasures - Jacob and Melinda are *constantly* playing with any ice in their reach, so I knew they would love this. I froze a bunch of stuff that I either had around the house, or bought from the craft store, into 6-quart containers. I have to admit, it took a lot longer to freeze that much ice than I anticipated (and I, too learned something from this activity - if you put a lid over water, it takes longer to freeze than when it's exposed to air!). I started freezing on Friday night, and it was just barely ready for the "actibity" by 4pm Sunday. Which happened to be a perfectly lovely afternoon, by the way!

Here's one of the blocks of ice I made.

Melinda and Jacob, in this picture, are just getting a good look at their blocks of ice, poking around at them.

The melting begins! We had warm water and the tools were an oral syringe, a turkey baster, a peri bottle, cups, and soons for whacking (I totally forgot to try salt!). The oral syringe was *awesome* for melting, it acted like a little drill and got stuff loose in a jippy! (Is that the right way to spell that word?)

Alex relaxed on a blanket in the shade, looking at the sky. Eventually he fell asleep with the aid of a pacifier.

Jacob starts tugging on the item of his focus, the kitty cat....

Look, mommy, I got the kitty out!

I really liked this shot. I know I'm totally overdoing the pictures, but oh well. It's my blog!! :) You can see how a hole has been worked right through the middle of Jacob's block of ice, and there are still many treasures to be found.

I tried to get a "cheese", but Melinda never glanced at me, and Jacob only turned to scowl as if to say, "why are you interrupting me?!"

Daddy brings out the "big guns", quite literally, in the form of a Super Soaker. That was fun, but it got put away after a few tries. It was too annoying to refill.

Jacob whacks at the ice with his spoon.

This activity was also great for some pouring coordination practice. And what kid doesn't like to pour water?After the ice has finally released all its treasures, a good 1 hour 20 minutes later, the leftover chunks are carried to the "river" down the hill, and gleefully splashed into the water to float away.

Daddy played with the optical zoom and got Mommy into a picture. See, I was there!!

And I took a video, which probably does a bit more justice than just still pictures!

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

This was just so much fun. Mom and dad sit back and either participate or enjoy the weather, no fighting between the kids, and it kept them happily busy for almost an hour and a half. I'm definitely going to try and do this with a playgroup soon!