As we enjoy the last of the summer heat before Autumn arrives, we thought we would share a “cool” activity that focuses on the “A” in STEAM – Art! Get ready for some frosty fun as you and your child create paintings with ice!
Here’s what you’ll need to create your cold and colorful artwork:
An ice tray- Water
- Food coloring
- A large tray, shower curtain, etc. (something to protect the surface you are painting on from the colored water resulting from melting ice)
- Posterboard
- A plastic spoon
- Craft sticks (optional, to freeze into your paint ice cubes as a handle)
The first step is to create your ice paints. Fill up your ice tray with water and add 1-2 drops of food coloring in each cube. Be careful not to overfill your tray, or colors will run between ice cube sections. Pop the tray in the freezer and allow the ice to freeze completely.
Once your ice paint is frozen, set your paint area up. This is a great activity to do outside on the grass, but if you need to set up inside, make sure that you are protecting your work surface well. Place your posterboard on your tray/shower curtain, then empty the ice cube tray on top of the posterboard.
Use a spoon to spread the ice around. As the ice melts, it will leave colors on the posterboard. Move the ice around until your whole posterboard is covered with color. When you are done, pour the melted ice water off of the posterboard. If you are inside, make sure to pour it in the sink or into a container.
Hang your colorful artwork up to dry, then hang it on the fridge, because we know it will be an absolute masterpiece!
Help your child learn while painting! Here are a couple of suggestions:
- Work on color theory! For young children, ask them to identify the colors of the ice cubes. For slightly older children, ask them to identify the colors that are made when the ice cube paints mix together.
- Talk about the states of matter. The ice is a solid, then it melts into a liquid, and as your painting dries, the liquid evaporates into the atmosphere as a gas.
Check out the full activity from Little Bins for Little Hands HERE.
As always, get as creative as you want, and above all, have lots of fun learning together!
We’ll see you right back here next Saturday for another STEAM Saturday activity! Scroll through the rest of our website to learn how Critchlow Adkins is Building Brighter Futures for the children and families we serve!
