purposeful play
Rainbow Ice Blocks
fun outdoor summer activity for kids
Rainbow Ice Blocks are a fun way to get kids outside on hot summer days to play!
These DIY colorful ice blocks are incredibly simple to make and will cool your kiddos off in the warm sun all while they build and learn.
Building activities are a powerful way to boost your child’s cognitive skills and problem solving ability.
Read more about Why Building is Important for Kids.
materials
Water
Food Coloring
Containers (of different shapes and sizes if possible)
purpose
- improves language skills
- strengthens fine motor skills
- gives the chance to experiment with cause and effect
- improves problem solving techniques
- engages imagination
- helps children process and make sense of the real world
- sparks creative and abstract thinking
- teaches early math concepts
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directions
How to make a Rainbow Ice Blocks
Pick an assortment of containers
If possible pick containers of different shapes and sizes that will easily stack on top of each other
Add water to the containers
Add food coloring to the water
Tip: a little food coloring goes a long way
Set containers in the freezer for 2-3 hours or until water is frozen
Remove containers from the freezer
Pop ice chunks out of the containers
If ice doesn’t come out easily, simply flip the container upside down and run warm water over it
Place ice chunks in a bucket and head outside!s
Encourage your child to build with the colored iced block
Shop More Building Activities!
Open ended building materials are an excellent way to encourage purposeful and engaged play at home.
These toys allow children to create in depths structures, explore cause and effect and strengthen cognitive skills.
Purpose
Sparks creativity
Strengthens problem solving skills
Improves eye-hand coordination
Explores cause and effect in an in-depth way
Encourages logical thinking
Explores early engineering and science concepts
Screen free fun
Purpose
Engages imagination
Strengthens fine motor skills
Allows for endless creativity
Strengthens spatial awareness
Promotes problem solving skills
Screen free fun
Open ended play
Purpose
Open ended play
Strengthens fine motor skills
Improves problem solving skills
Engages imagination and allows for complex building play
Explores cause and effect concepts
Allows for child to recreate what they see in the world around them
Experimentation with early engineering concepts
Strengthens early geometry skills
Purpose
Explores magnetic polarities
Experimentation with building 3D structures
Explores early architectural design concepts
Improves geometric shape recognition and knowledge
purposeful play
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