To tell you the truth I didn’t plan this activity, I saw the fishing net , wanted to do something with it and didn’t have much for my son to catch so instead I made some ice. To make it more fun we colored the ice, then to make it more educational we made them red and yellow to create orange ! It was a big hit and not as big a mess as I feared .
- Gather your materials. You will need a bin or tub, a ice cube tray , food coloring , a fish net ( or soup ladle) and water. You will also need plain ice for the second part.
- Start by putting a few drops of food coloring in your ice tray – half one color, half the other.
- Add water and freeze.
- Fill your tub with water – ours was too warm, the ice melted so quickly the color mixing was fast. When I do it again I will use cold water so it’s a slower mix.
- When ice firm
, show it to your child and tell them you are going to put it in the water. Ask them to make a prediction about what will happen to the ice when it is in the water, what will happen to the water ? Pop it in!
- Mix and catch with net.
- Pop in more plain ice to “fish” – my son had fun with the color mixing but the extension of the activity was the real fun.
Wow! What a great idea!!! Thanks!
very cute! I’m sure I’ll have the mess you did not, but we’ll try it anyway!
O M G I love this! I was just looking for new fun indoor (cheap!) activities to do – thanks!
Colored ice cubes in the bathtub are also fun!
I just saw an apple bobbing activity at a local fall festival but for the younger kids they had big ladles and spoons tied tied to the bucket and the kids got to scoop up the apples instead. I thought it seemed too simple, but the kids went nuts over that! I’ll have to try this w/the ice for a little indoor-scoopingand water fun.
I did this today with my preschooler. I think ours melted even faster! LOL It was fun though. I don’t think the mixing color lesson really meant anything (it happened so fast), but he had a blast stirring it with a ladle and then scooping it into the pitcher that I had used to pour the water with. Thanks so much for your blog, I am always telling other parents about it. We have had a blast doing so many of your crafts – no longer am I afraid of the messies! 🙂
So glad you aren’t concerned about a mess- freeing isn’t it?!
GReat idea! Its starting to warm up down in Oz, so will try this out soon. Thanks so much. Your blog is a wealth of great ideas! Thanks.
This idea is wonderful! I can’t wait to give it a go.
my son would love this. anything semi messy or involving water is his thing. i will echo Lisa W- your blog is awesome. thanks for all your great ideas
Ooh! I have fish shaped ice trays from Ikea that this would be perfect for!!! Off to make some now – great idea!
We had an ice-archeology in summer morning! Quite similar!