How to Make Ice Blocks with Kids

It’s officially summer time in Austin, TX and I needed some crafts to get the kids outside. Ice blocks are a summer craft winner for Maxwell and Mila. Maxwell likes to “excavate” the ice blocks with hammers while Mila prefers to lick them. Yes, lick. If you’re in need of some summer crafts for kids, I highly recommend making and playing with ice blocks!

Materials:

• 3-5 plastic cups
• Water
• 5-10 trinkets per cup (Think: plastic animals, legos, coins, or even cut up fruit or straws. You want things that sink and float and that will fit inside of your cups.)
• Freezer
• Kid hammers (To excavate the ice blocks after they are frozen!)
• Scissors

How to make ice blocks with kids

Step 1 – Treasure hunt for trinkets

Hand the kids one of the plastic cups you plan on freezing the ice blocks in and tell them the toys need to fit inside of the cup. For extra fun, set a timer for 15 minutes and see which kiddo can find the most treasure to use for the ice blocks. If you need more trinkets for the cups, let the kids cut up a few plastic straws. My son loves cutting straws!

Step 2 – Fill cups with water

Part of the fun for my kids was filling the cups with water. I set all 5 plastic cups on a baking sheet and let them fill and refill all of the cups multiple times. The end goal is to fill the cups about 3/4 of the way full with water to leave room for the treasure.

Step 3 – Add Treasure

Now, it’s time to add the plastic trinkets and toys the kids found in their treasure hunt. If you’re feeling fancy, make predictions about each item sinking or floating before dropping it into the plastic cup of water.

Step 4 – Freeze

You may need to add a little water to each cup. Each plastic cup should have at least 1 inch of free space from the top of the water line to the top of the plastic cup. It will take a few hours to freeze. My 2 and 4 year old enjoyed checking on the cups in the freezer all day long!

Step 5 – Cut

Once the water is frozen, it’s time to get your ice blocks out of the plastic cups. Use scissors to cut the rim of the plastic cup and tear the plastic away from the giant block of ice.

Step 6 – Play

Play with your ice towers outside! Stack them, melt them, take a hammer to them, knock them over with toy cars. Stack ’em and watch them break. Bring them in your blow up pool. Invent new ways to play with your ice blocks!

I feel like ice blocks would be a big hit with dogs too! What are your go to summer crafts for kids? Here are a few more of our favorites:

• Shaving cream marbling
• Fruit volcanoes
• DIY memory game
• 20 Summer crafts for kids