Oh no, the children’s favorite superheroes have been frozen and they need to be rescued! Plan this one a few hours in advance or overnight and let the children problem solve their way to save their favorite characters. This activity is a great way to explore the properties of ice and the way it melts!
Set up Time: 10 active minutes, total time 6+ hours for freezing
Directions
- Overnight, freeze small figures in an ice tray or large figures in a tupperware container
- Remove the ice and frozen figures from the tray and place in a separate container
- Challenge the child to use various tools to free the figures!
Materials
- Figurines
- Ice cube tray
- Various tools such as a child’s tool set, droppers/warm water, etc
Learning Through Play
Cognitive: Problem Solving – Invite children to problem solve with the different tools and materials. Ask them to explain their methods: “Oh wow, I see you rescued the superhero–how did you do that?” While young children may not be able to answer, they might show you their preferred tool, or move on to rescue the next superhero. This is great, as children will become accustomed to adults asking them open-ended questions.
Social-Emotional: Empathy – Use this as a chance to talk about emotions. How do the superheroes feel? How do you feel when you rescue them? Use language such as brave, scared, compassionate, or talk about actions such as rescue, comfort, or give a hug.
School Readiness: Sorting – Children will learn that the different tools have different functions, which is a thinking skill that they will use for a variety of different sorting activities later in school.
See this activity in the Rayz Kidz app along with the other fun activities. Rayz Kidz is your trusted source for play-based activities featuring over 100 themes and 500+ hands-on activities and clear descriptions of the beautiful learning that is happening through play.
