Ask Ollie
Melting Ice Cube Painting
Here's one to try together!
Slide a colorful ice cube across paper and watch it melt into a splashy painting!
Reviewed by our team.
Safety first
- ice cubes are a choking risk for young children
- children should not suck or put the cubes in their mouths, so supervise closely
What you need
- Water, about 1 cup
- Food coloring, a few drops per cube
- Paper, a few sheets
- Plate or tray, 1
- Ice cube tray, 1
- Craft sticks, 1 per cube, or spoons
How to do it
Grown-up prep: Make the colored cubes ahead of time, since they need several hours to freeze. Once frozen, the painting part takes about 15 minutes. Stay close the whole time, because tiny kids may try to mouth the ice.
- Pour water into the ice cube tray and add food coloring.
- Stand a stick in every cube of the tray.
- Freeze the tray until the cubes are rock solid. Ask: What do you think will happen to the water in the cold freezer?
- Lay your paper on a plate.
- Take out the tray and free the cubes.
- Hold the handle and slide the cube across the paper.
- Try swapping colors and watch them mix. Ask: What happens when blue and yellow touch?
- Watch the ice get smaller as it melts.
- Show your friends, or make more! Which color mix will you try next? Ask: What would you name your melting masterpiece?
Play it again
- Color mix: start with two colors and see what new color you can make.
- Picture time: paint a fish, a sun or a rainbow with your ice.
- Big and small: make tiny dots first, then long swoopy lines.
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