Frozen Glitter Ice Paint for Kids

Does child adore Elsa? Is he over-the-top for Olaf? Then this Frozen kids’ activity is for him. Yes, it’s ‘Frozen’ like the Disney movie, but it’s also freezing too.

Maybe it’s the summer heat or maybe it’s just a desire to use my new set of ice cube trays, but I’ve been doing icy exploration after icy exploration – ice building blocks, experiments, freezing chalk paint and now sparkling, glitter Frozen water colors!

This kids’ activity combines art and science. Sure, it’s got gaggles of glitter. But, it also includes a bit of exploration and discovery. You can make the Frozen ice cubes one of two ways – use food coloring or go with tissue paper. If you’re asking what tissue paper has to do with making icy blue sparkle cubes, keep reading to find out. It’s a really cool (I’d say no pun intended, but it was just too good to pass up) project.

Before you get started ask your child to predict what will happen when you freeze the colorful water. Ask if he thinks the glitter will freeze too. After the exploration is over, talk about your child’s predictions. Remind him of what he said and have him compare that to what really happened.

Here’s What You’ll Need:

·        An ice cube tray

·        Blue tissue paper – Do not use color-fast paper. It won’t work for this activity.

·        A straw or paintbrush

·        Blue food coloring

·        Blue glitter

·        Water

·        Card stock paper

Here’s What to Do:

1.     Tear up the tissue paper into pieces. Try a few different shades of blue to see what happens.

2.     Put the tissue into the ice cube tray.
 

3.     Fill each compartment with water.
 

4.     Let the tissue color bleed into the water, stirring periodically with a straw or paintbrush. Your child can compare the different shades of blue to see if they look different. Our lighter blue didn’t work at all – sometimes these things just don’t come out like you think they will. But, the deep blue did work well.
 

5.     Fill any remaining compartments (or use another tray) with water and a few drops of blue food coloring.
 

6.     Stir the food coloring.

7.     Sprinkle glitter across the top, covering the water completely.
 

8.     Put the colorful sparkle cubes into the freezer.

9.     Pop the frozen cubes out when they are ready.

10.   Paint with the blue glitter water colors on the card stock paper.
 

11.   Optional: Add a layer of school glue (your child can paint it on) first. This gives the glitter something to stick to.

When your child is finished painting with the ice, ask him about the liquid to solid to liquid transformation that just happened. Talk about the water and why it turned into ice. Have your child explain (in his own words) what happened to make the ice turn back into water again. You can also discuss the tissue paper and why the color came off of it. Instead of telling your child, let him tell you!

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