I Week- Icy I Spy

With so few words that start with I, a hide and seek bowl just wasn't going to work for this week the way it had so nicely for T week and R week. What would work, however was an icy I spy! I had seen the idea to freeze toys in ice several places and figured that Trip would like it. I underestimated his excitement, however, because he absolutely LOVED it and we repeated the activity several times throughout the week. This could easily be adapted to any theme, or not have any particular theme at all, but just contain some favorite objects or new treasures.

I started with a clean plastic container from an angel food cake that I had purchased a few weeks ago. You can really use any container, but this one was nice because the ice came out of the thin plastic easily. I scattered a few plastic insects, an ice-cream-cone-shaped eraser, and some foam letters in about an inch and a half of water, then placed it in the freezer. It took longer than I expected to freeze solid, so unless you are using a deepfreeze, I would suggest freezing it overnight or at least planning on it taking half the day to get solid.

Once the base was solid, I added more insects, letters, and water, and froze it again. Freezing it in layers is not required, but it ensures that there will be treasures throughout the ice.

The foam letters all stayed at the top, so I froze another small layer of water to cover them a little.

As soon as I got it out of the container, Trip got right to work on it with the tools I had prepared for him: a squeeze bottle of hot water,

a plastic hammer (which was useless but fun),

and a spray bottle of hot water.

We worked on it for quite a while but Trip never lost interest. He kept wanting to get the next insect or letter out of the ice.

Toward the end, one of Trip's friends stopped by and enjoyed helping melt the ice, then feed Trip chunks of ice. Even at the age of nine, she thought it was a lot of fun.

This simple activity is a great inexpensive and educational way to spend a summer afternoon for kids of all ages (and maybe even mommies too)!

If you try this, leave us a comment telling us what you froze in your icy I spy!