If you need to spend some time in the kitchen today, and want to keep an eye on kids at the same time, an ice cube can be a great toy. Not only are ice cubes great fun, but they help support early learning and development and kindergarten readiness, too. A few ice cubes in a sink or bowl can be exciting for exploration and discovery.
Little Sister likes to “help” in the kitchen. She happily played with a few ice cubes in the kitchen, stirring them in the sink, listening to the sound they made when dropped, lifting them in and out, and checking out the taste. Some stuck together in the sink and fingers got cold. After awhile, we ran some warm water in the sink and the ice cubes got smaller and smaller…
Big Sister sprinkled some salt on a few ice cubes in a bowl and watched what happened. Using a medicine dropper, she tried squirting water on the ice to see if it would melt faster. Little Sister just stirred the ice cubes up with the dropper when she had a turn.
Kids are natural scientists, curious and wanting to know. Science fun does not need to be elaborate or expensive. While we might think that watching ice cubes melt is about as exciting as watching paint dry, to kids it’s quite an astonishing change. Chairs and tables do not melt, but ice cubes turn into puddles of water.
Wondering and exploring are two valuable strategies for learning. Supporting these qualities will help kids when they start school in kindergarten all the way to graduation and beyond. What fun and discoveries can your child have with ice cubes?