Since Liam has decided that naps are no longer a necessity around here…(riiiiiight) it has given this tired mommy a great excuse to try out a lot more activities that I come across on Pinterest. It has been particularly hot here lately, so I thought this one from Counting Coconuts would be fun!
I filled a plastic Tupperware bowl with a few small random toys from around the house and filled it with water and placed it in the freezer overnight. The next day, I pulled out a very colorful ice block, placed it on a blanket in the backyard and handed Liam my small crafty hammer.
Now, when I was putting this together, I wondered how Liam would react to having his toys frozen in a giant ice cube, and when I did pull it out of the freezer and showed him, he did seem a little worried. But then I handed him the hammer (he loves tools) and all was forgotten! As the block started to fall apart, and my toddler was continuing to slam his hammer into the ice, I realized the marbles were probably a bad idea. Although they looked really neat suspended in the ice, they are glass, and glass breaks. Lucky for me, I managed to retrieve all the marbles before they connected with my toddlers very enthusiastic swings.
This turned out to be the perfect hot day activity! He had a great time smashing the ice with the hammer and “freeing” his toys from captivity. He even partook in some refreshments and ate some of the ice! After hammering his little heart out, he started to get impatient (imagine!) with the ice, so I told him to throw the last remaining chunks into the pool and watch what happened! Being that it was a warm day, they immediately started melting, releasing the toys into the pool! Liam started grabbing them up and asking where the ice was…so we had a science lesson. I told him that when ice got hot, or put into warmer water, it melted and turned back into water. He looked at me with those big eyes and said, “Oh, okay mom.” Either he thought I was telling tall tales or he liked my explanation. We’ll go with the second one. 🙂
