Magic Milk: Make Colorful Cubes

Magic milk? If you got to this post by googling “Magic Mike”, I sincerely apologize that you will see no pictures of Channing Tatum or Joe Manganiello. Although, as a side note, Joe Manganiello did grow up in my home town – and somehow I don’t remember ever seeing him (he must not have looked as hunky). But, he does periodically come back to visit. While I’ve never personally spotted him, my mother was getting her nails done at a salon on the main street of town and spied him walking by. All of the ladies who worked there immediately dropped their polish and ran out after him. Seriously.

Anyway, back to the magic milk. So, regular old ice in milk is kind of gross. When it melts it makes the milk way too watery. If your child: A. Doesn’t like milk, and B. Always wants everything arctic temperature (my son used to have a friend who refused to drink juice pouches unless I popped them into the freezer first), then this may just do the trick.

I’m talking about rainbow colored milk ice cubes. They make milk so much more fun to drink, but they don’t change the taste in the same way that chocolate or strawberry flavors do. When my son went on his milk hatred phase, I tried swapping in chocolate milk. Guess what? He always wanted chocolate milk. In his cereal, at daycare – all the time. This is an alternative if you don’t want every meal to start with a glass of liquid chocolate (and it’s kind of artistic too!).

This also works as a states of matter science activity and a color recognition lesson. Before you start, ask your child what he thinks will happen to the milk when you put it in the freezer. Ask him if he thinks the same thing will happen to the milk that happens to water when it turns into ice. When you take the milk cubes out, ask him to tell you what he thinks happened. Have him also name the colors that he creates.

Here’s What You’ll Need:

·        An ice cube tray

·        Milk

·        Food coloring

Here’s What to Do:

1.     Fill each compartment of the ice cube tray with milk.
 

2.     Add a teeny tiny drop of food coloring into each compartment of milk. Really, you don’t need very much. I would say that I used half a drop if that. You aren’t coloring a bowl of frosting here, just an ice cube sized chunk of milk. Less is more in this case.
 

3.     Stir the food coloring and milk.
 

4.     Pop the cubes into the freezer for a few hours.

5.     Take the frozen milk out of the freezer.
 

6.     Drop the first cube into a fresh glass of plain milk. Watch what happens!
 

 

 

7.     Stir the cube around. Go back to the science aspect of the activity and ask your child what is happening now.
 

8.     Optional: Add another cube and see what happens when your child mixes the colors. This is a great way to add in a lesson on the primary colors.

Does your child want to do more with ice? Try one of these ice activities:

Color mixing with ice

 

Scented colorful ice

 

Chalk ice

 

Layers of colors in ice

 

Are you looking for more science-type fun? Follow my Pinterest board for ideas!

Follow Mini Monets and Mommies's board Preschool Art and Science Activities on Pinterest.