Sensory ice play

• A large box or bucket that can contain water
• Collected natural materials such as leaves/flowers/herbs
• Containers or ice cube trays for freezing these into ice blocks
• Freezer
• Towels

• Language development and engagement through enjoying this sensory experience 
• Critical thinking skills as they wonder and discover how to get to the frozen items, or how and why the ice is changing.

Ice makes an amazing sensory play material. It’s always available and pretty cool too! Ice and water play make the best non-messy, messy play around. Keep a couple of towels handy and you are good to go! 

The idea behind this invitation to play is to freeze interesting items inside blocks of ice for your children to release and explore with their senses.

Items to freeze in ice could include herbs, flowers, leaves, etc. You could go on a hunt to collect some natural items around the garden or on a walk outdoors, before turning them into ice for this experience later on. 

Set up this ice excavation activity and invite your children to explore ice sensory play and see what treasures they can find!