Sunday, September 18, 2011

Ice Eggs

This activity was a blast!
When I saw the forecast last night for warm weather today I got busy filling our freezer with 'ice eggs' for the girls to play with (ok, and me too :-D).
This activity is a combination of the Ice Bowling and Alphabet Ice blocks we played last year which were both a huge hit.

WE USED:

* balloons
(round shaped probably work best)
* small toys/glass stones
* water (tap)
* freezer

optional : spoons, magnifying glasses, food colouring/tempura paint.

Sorry that there are no photos of me making the Ice Eggs, it required both hands and was done in the middle of the night when all sensible family members were asleep ;-)
It was a bit tricky the first few times but once you get the hang of it it's a breeze.
First I lined my small objects up along the edge of the bench top (I used horse figurines from our play farm and small glass stones), then using both hands I opened up the top of each balloon by working my fingers down into the narrow neck bit. Once I had it open I just slipped the small objects inside by sliding them off the bench while still holding the balloon. Then I could fill the balloon up with water using the tap, tie it off like a water balloon and stick it in the freezer overnight.
You could also add food colouring like we did for the Ice Bowling activity but my girls weren't keen on that last time so I just used plain water.

An Ice Egg with a figurine frozen inside.

We found the balloons literally popped straight off our eggs as soon as we picked them up, but you could use scissors to cut the balloon away if it's being stubborn.

The photos don't do these eggs any justice, they looked so beautiful. The girls were enthralled; rolling them around, smoothing them with their hands and holding them up to the sky to see the objects inside.


Cracking the eggs open to retrieve the 'treasure' was a lot of fun.

The girls used spoons to crack the hard ice on the outside and dig through the softer ice in the centre.








We got out our magnifying glasses and studied the ice patterns and objects embedded inside.

So much fun, we already have the freezer loaded with more Ice Eggs for the next hot sunny day!

Classified: Mom

It's Playtime at hands on : as we grow


30 comments:

  1. LOVE this idea.. not sure if my monkey is old enough for this (15mnths), but I'm going to give it a try and see.. The weather is so lovely and hot at the moment, it'll be a perfect activity.

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  2. Is is such a great sensory tool! Thanks for sharing with us on It's Playtime.

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  3. This has got to be one of the best ideas I have seen in a long time! What a fun thing to do to engage the senses of children, and work in some learning about weather too! I'll have to come up with something to put in an ice egg for my 1 yr old and 8 yr old!

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  4. This would eb so much fun to do when the weather gets warm again outside- Thank you for sharing this on The Sunday Showcase.

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  5. awesome, great summer activity, would be fun at a party too

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  6. What great Summer fun! I love it! And fabulous to see it on the "The Best Kids activities for 2011"! A fabulous addition!

    Maggy

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  7. Beautiful idea...we will be trying this on a cold day this winter...thanks.

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  8. these are absolutely fantastic. I am pinning this so I don't forget about it when the weather gets warmer. Thanks for the fab inspiration.

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  9. Such an original idea! Looks like the kids loved it!

    Thank you for participating in the Best of 2011 Blog Hop. Happy New Year!

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  10. What an awesome idea. All three of my boys would love to do this. We will be doing this during the summer.

    Stopping by from the Best of 2011 Blog Hop!

    Mommy Cameron

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  11. I just pinned this. I want to do this in the summer with my son!

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  12. I'm slowly making my way through the 2011 Best Ideas for Kids blog hop and found this post - I LOVE this!! I'd like to invite you to link up this or any recent outdoor play posts to our Outdoor Play Party every other Friday. A new edition is coming out this Friday. Hope to see you there! http://www.mamapeapod.com/search/label/%7BOutdoor%20Play%20Linky%20Party%7D

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  13. Great idea! My son will love this. Thanks for sharing.

    http://prettyfineday.blogspot.com/

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  14. I love this idea, I did this with silicon bun cases & fish last week but the balloon eggs are fab. Thanks for linking up in the outdoor play link up too.Kierna

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  15. I reach 4-7 year olds and I did this with them when we were learning about dinosaurs! They thought they were frozen dinosaur eggs! X

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  16. Love this idea. We tried it last week and I blogged about it making sure to mention that I got the idea from you. Thanks for sharing.

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  17. That is AMAZING! Love, love, love it! :)

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  18. I bet you could stretch the neck of the balloon over the rim of a small glass which would mean you didn't have to struggle to keep it open to get the toy in.

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  19. So cool!!! My mum's friend is moving from an hour or so away to a few minutes away and she has a 2 year old daughter called Ivy, twin 3 year olds, martha and joe and a 7 year old called grace. They would love this. If the weather stays nice once they're moved I might just have to do this with them. It seems like it would be so much fun.
    Seeing as I will be baby sitting for them soon I'll need fun activities to keep them out of trouble.
    Thanks :P

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  20. Cute to add coins in if the kids are old enough to not put them in their mouths :O) I'm pinning this one and making them for my kids sleepover w money so when we go get a treat they can spend their own money!

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  21. I LOVE this! Thank you so much for the idea. You could do so many fun things with this project. Thanks!
    ~Erin
    Neaten Your Nest

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  22. What a great activity! We can't wait to try this one. :)

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  23. Oh, I'm so going to try this! Awesome idea. :)

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  24. The most amazing egg activity I found for my 2013 Easter celebration with my kids.

    I wrote a post about my experience with ice eggs....

    http://mamabeenoe.blogspot.com/2013/03/toddler-easter-ice-eggs.html

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  25. This looks brilliant - never seen it before. Thank you for sharing!

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  26. Fun fun fun! The kids will love this, especially now that's it's getting so warm. Yay for new ideas! Thanks for the post!

    http://thisfineday.com/

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  27. This looks like perfect fun for the summer holidays! We'll be trying :-)

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  28. Excellent idea, I like the way you think thank you for posting and I'm waiting for your next update.

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  29. Be great for a dinosaur egg hunt, or looking for treasure, or plastic insects

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