In this BLOG post I will teach you how to make frozen sea creatures, what the benefits are and ways to differentiate your play.
If there is one activity that I can recommend to you, it's this! They are fun, engaging, use materials you have at home & can be prepped ahead of time.
What are Frozen Sea Creatures?
They are exactly what they sound like: a plastic sea creature frozen inside an ice cube! It sounds silly, but I promise activities like this bring kids SO much joy! They're fun and hands-on and get kids exploring and problem solving.
You can use food coloring to make the water colorful or you can leave them as is.
You can melt the with water, smash them with a wooden mallet or just watch them slowly melt.
Whichever way you choose to "rescue" the bugs is absolutely perfect. Activities like this are inclusive. There is NO wrong way to play!!
Not only are these FUN, but there are also so many learning opportunities.
How does the ice feel?
What happens when I pour the water over the ice?
What happens if I use warm water instead of cold water?
How hard to I have to slam the wooden mallet to make it crack?
What happens as the ice begins to melt?
Benefits of Frozen Activities:
Strengthen fine motor skills.
Increase opportunities for language & vocabulary.
Practice self-regulation skills.
Work on cause and effect.
Allow opportunities to problem solve.
Exposure to temperature and science topics.
Purposeful ways to practice socials skills (waiting, using manners, taking turns, sharing).
Bilateral Coordination (using both sides of the body).
Materials:
Ice cube tray or bowl
Trinkets that can be frozen
Sensory tray or bowl
Tools to rescue the objects
Step 1: grab a plastic or metal bowl, an ice cube tray, a silicone ice cube mold or a cake/baking pan.
Step 2: Add in your favorite trinkets (plastic animals or figurines, legos, gems, pom Poms, shells, rocks, alphabet letters- literally anything) & add water. Food coloring is optional, a few drops go a long way.
Step 3: freeze for a few hours (length will depend on size and shape that you use.)
Step 4: when frozen, place in a sensory tray or bowl, add medicine droppers, pipettes, squirt bottles or wooden mallets. Also add a few cups or a bowl or warm water.
Step 5: rescue your treasures!! Squirt, squeeze & bang away until they are free of the ice!
Items you can freeze:
Pom Poms
Small legos
Gems
Plastic dinosaurs, animals, bugs. unicorns etc
Shells, rocks, sticks
Flowers or leaves
Pipe cleaners
Plastic letters or numbers or shapes
Buttons
Fine Motor Tools that you can add into your frozen fun:
Tweezers
Tongs
Squirt bottle
Medicine dropper
Wooden mallet
Pipette
Measuring cups/spoons
Activities like this are an incredible way to strengthen fine motor skills. As kids squeeze and squirt and smoosh, they are strengthening the tiny muscles in their fingers and hands. Those same muscles are responsible for self-help skills like feeding yourself and zippering your coat. They are also responsible for supporting you during the writing process!
The more we can strengthen those muscles early on through sensory-driven experiences like this, the more supported children will be when they enter school-age.
The possibilities for FUN are endless. You can learn & play & create all through simple materials!! When you're done playing, put everything back in the container and freeze again for next time. They are great to have on hand for a rainy day, during playdates or on a day when you just need a little something!
While kids explore frozen activities together, they will have the opportunity to work on a TON of social skills. They will be sharing materials, sharing space, practice using their manners, waiting their turn and problem solving together!
They will also be learning from each other! Kids observe EVERYTHING! They will be watching how each person explores the bin. They will learn their own personal boundaries and maybe even be encouraged to try something they may not have before!
SO many language opportunities. SO much social skills practice. SO. MUCH. FUN.
Always monitor young children in or around water. Smal objects can be choking hazards. You get to decide what is safe and manageable in your home.
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