It has been a frigidly cold week. And though my boys and I do enjoy playing outside in winter, we don’t appreciate the kind of cold that instantly bites skin and freezes our breath. Needless to say, we’ve spent more time indoors watching movies, visiting the library, and making crafts the past few days.
Since it has been so very cold, an arts and crafts project that used ice as the main material seemed very appropriate. Painting with ice is a creative way to incorporate science and art, with a beautiful end result!
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Paint with Ice
Materials and Directions:
1. Squeeze several drops of food coloring or liquid watercolors into small containers. I used wide mouth 4 oz. canning jars.
2. Fill the remainder of the jars with water. Freeze the jars outside (or in the freezer) overnight.
In an effort to give the boys an opportunity to problem solve, I simply presented them with the frozen paint, several brushes, and a pad of watercolor paper.
“Ummm, Mommy?” my oldest said.
“Yes?”
“Well, the problem is that the paints are frozen. They don’t work really good.”
“They are frozen!?”
“Yes! We need to melt them.”
“How could you melt them?”
“With a campfire.”
“That’s one way. Can you think of another way more appropriate for inside?”
“Salt! Salt melts ice! That’s why big trucks put it on the road.”
I gave the boys a pan filled with rock salt and invited them to sprinkle it over the frozen paint. Almost immediately, the paint began to melt. Soon enough, my young Monets were ready to begin their masterpieces!
When the paintings were dry, most of them contained very fine salt crystals inside the cavities of the watercolor paper. The paintings were beautiful and sparkly!
For more fun arts and crafts activities, consider following my Arts and Crafts for Kids board on Pinterest. Happy painting!
Anonymous says
this is beautiful so are the kids very smart too
Anonymous says
I did this with my three year old children as a Reggio exploration. We made a documentation board .
Vicky @ Mess For Less says
Wow! These are great. I was wondering how they were going to be able to paint with the ice. Love how you added some salt to teach a bit of science as well. Just pinned!
firefliesandmudpies says
Thank you for pinning and reading my blog!
pleasantest says
Fantastic idea! I can’t wait to try it. And I love your pictures.
Anonymous says
What a great idea! I can’t wait to try in my preschool class! I also shared it on my district’s Facebook page for our birth to 5 initiative to get kids ready for kindergarten!
Anonymous says
What a great idea! I can’t wait to try in my preschool class! I also shared it on my district’s Facebook page for our birth to 5 initiative to get kids ready for kindergarten!
http://www.facebook.com/U46GiveMeFive
firefliesandmudpies says
Thank you for sharing!!
kidworldcitizen says
How fun!!!
MsJo says
Could you use sea salt?
Fireflies and Mud Pies says
Absolutely! Great question!
question says
can you use snow instead?
Fireflies and Mud Pies says
Try it and see. It will be a fun experiment!
Victoria says
What a great idea! I can’t wait to try this with my girls!