Wow! Not sure how summer has started in your barrio, but here in the Nation’s Capital, hace calor! This means we have had lots of pool-time and fun with water.
Until recently, I really thought there wasn’t a way to make playing in the pool more fun, but my daughter Sofía found a way! When I wasn’t looking, a little hand went into my glass of water and hielo (ice) and voilá…a whole new fun dimension of playing in the water! I can’t really take credit for this activity because literally she thought it up and I just took it up a notch!
What I like most about this activity is that not only is it super fun, it is a great way to learn about science concepts. Liquids change to solids and back again to liquids through temperature changes.
Expanding on Sofía’s idea, I simply organized the making of lots and lots of hielo for her to play with.
We colored our water with Crayola Color Bath Dropz (They are non-staining.), filled the hielo trays and waited. (Not only a lesson in science, but a lesson on me learning to be more patient!)
Really, you don’t need to add the color to the ice for it to be fun or educational, but it does bring about some aesthetic pleasure and helps the young learner actually be able to see some concepts such as melting.
The first time we did this activity, Sofía threw all the hielo into the pool at once. She was happily playing in front of her with a handful of hielo and when she turned around for more, she exclaimed, “Dónde está el hielo?” (Where is the ice?) Obviously, this became our first lesson on solids changing to liquids using heat. So the second time we played with hielo in the pool, Sofía wanted to put it all in a tub. She used a measuring cup to pour the hielo and observe it slide, color the water, and change shape.
The last little note about this Icy Hot Fun activity is that you don’t have to limit it to pool time either. This can actually be a year-round activity, by dumping the hielo into a tub with a tiny bit of water to create a different version of a water table that can easily be played with indoors as well.
My one complaint about this activity is that Sofía wants hielo to play with all the time now!
¡Feliz Verano and Happy Water Play!
Thank you to Elizabeth for providing this article. Check out more activities and fun posts at La Mother Tongue.
I have a very similar draft waiting to be edited and posted on my blog as well! We used a large ice cube with lemon frozen inside that my daughter wanted to freeze. They had so much fun.