# Summer Ice Jewelry
> Freeze flavored or colored water in ice cube trays with a thread running through every cube, then pop out icy necklaces and bracelets for chilly, sticky sensory play. Dress up dolls with the jewelry and balance the melting cubes on a scale.
- URL: https://www.funlittles.com/ice-activities-summer-ice-jewelry/
- Ages: 2–5 yrs · Difficulty: easy · Mess: medium
- Time: prep 10 min, activity 30 min
- Works for: one-on-one, small group · one batch serves about 1 kids
- Skills: sensory-exploration, colors, color-flavor-connection, pretend-play, balance-and-weighing
- Cautions: food-dye, ingestion-risk

## Materials (one batch)
- Flavor-Ice liquid (freeze-pop packets)
- 1 piece Ice cube tray (household)
- Kitchen thread (household)
- Favorite dolls or stuffed toys (optional) (household)
- 1 piece Balance (weighing) scale with buckets (optional)

## Substitutions
- Instead of flavor ice: Water tinted with food coloring (The author says you can simply use food colored water. You lose the flavor-guessing element, and it's likely less sticky as it melts.)

## Safety
- Strings around the neck: an adult stays with any child wearing an ice necklace, and takes it off before naps or unsupervised play.
- Ice cubes and thread are a choking hazard for toddlers. Supervise closely and don't let kids suck on or chew the cubes, because the thread is frozen inside them.
- This is play, not a snack. Treat the flavored ice as a play material.
- Melting flavored ice is sticky from the sugar and can make floors slippery. Play outdoors or on a washable surface.
- Colored and flavored ice can stain hands, clothes and toys.
- Very cold ice on skin: take breaks if little hands get too cold.

## Before you start
- Pour the Flavor-Ice liquid (or colored water) into ice cube trays, run kitchen thread through every cube and freeze until solid.
- Make a couple of extra trays with shorter strings so everyone gets a bracelet.

## Steps
1. Snip open the Flavor-Ice packets and pour the liquid into an ice cube tray.
2. Ask: "Hey, see this yellow water. Is it lemon flavor or orange flavor?"
3. Run a kitchen thread along the tray, making sure it is immersed in each cube.
4. Adult: set the tray in the freezer until frozen solid.
5. Pop the frozen strand of cubes out of the tray to get your ice jewelry.
6. Set up a play area with favorite dolls and dress them up in ice jewelry.
7. Add a weighing scale and see how many melting cubes it takes on each side to balance it.
8. Squish and touch the melting ice and feel how sticky it gets.

## Tips
- Use flavored ice for an extra sensory element. It's a great way to introduce the color-to-flavor connection to younger kids.
- The chillness of the ice added a fun sensory element to the girls' doll dress-up play.
- As the cubes were melting, it was funny to see how many we needed on either side to balance the scale.
- Melting Flavor-Ice gets sticky from the sugar, and that became an unexpected sensory play activity of its own.

## The original post by TurkeyMom (2013)

How about making ice jewelry for an even fun summer activity? Playing with ice is a special summer treat. You can simply use food colored water. I used flavored ones for that extra sensory element. I snipped up the flavor ice packets and let them into an ice-cube tray. It is a great way to introduce **color to flavor connection** for younger kids. "Hey see this yellow water- is it lemon flavor or orange flavor?" We did this with our **[kool-aid popsicle painting](https://www.funlittles.com/toddler-activities-summer-art-activity/)**

- Flavor-Ice Liquid
- Ice cube tray
- Thread

I used a kitchen thread and ran the thread along the sides of the ice-cube tray making sure that the thread is immersed into each cube. I set it in the tray in the freezer.  I also made a couple of extra ice trays and made smaller strings for bracelets for all.

 Set up a play area with some of your tot's favorite dolls for an icy play. Here are a few shots from our play scene. The girls had fun dressing up Dora with Ice jewelry and the chillness added a fun sensory play into the play.  Happy Dora with funky ice jewelry.  I also gave them a weighing scale to add an experiment dimension to the play. As the cubes were melting it was funny to see how many cubes we needed on either sides to balance the scale.

 Melting flavor ice was so sticky from the sugar and that too became an unexpected sensory play activity in our play.



How is that for sensory play activities for toddler this summer?

Thanks for reading

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