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Put away your paint brushes and open up the freezer, its ice painting time!  Painting with ice helps kids practice their color recognition and counting skills while observing paint go from a liquid state to a solid state, then back to liquid again.

As your child paints, discuss the process of freezing. What happened to the paint when they put it in the freezer? What’s happening to the paint when it’s exposed to the warm air and paper? What does the paint feel like as it melts?

Materials:

• Washable Paint
• Ice Cube Trays
• Mini Craft Sticks
• Paper
• Plastic wrap

What’s Next:

First, pour the paint into the ice-cube tray.  I had C identify each color and it’s placement (shh, another lesson).  For a harder challenge, mix colors and have your child identify combinations.

Then I had him put a craft stick into the middle of each paint cube.

The sticks should be able to stand up on their own, but if they won’t stay up, try covering the tray in plastic wrap. Then poke the sticks through the wrap for extra stability. Tip: Michaels sells short sticks, which would stand solo better, but for C’s grip, we choose longer sticks.

Tip: Fill cubes going horizontally, originally I did it diagonally and it was hard to work with the plastic wrap.  Wrap just two colors at a time across from each other, it’s easier. 🙂

Next, have your child carefully place the ice-cube trays in the freezer, and let it sit until the paint is frozen solid. When the paint cubes are frozen, it’s time to paint! Also, try to freeze only yellow and red paint cubes, and let your child discover what results from using those colors together. As they melt, the paints will magically mix into orange! Discuss fun science facts along the way to spark their curiosity while having fun!

That’s as far as we got today, so stay tuned for C’s mini Picasso masterpiece!

UPDATE: Pictures are in …

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