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    Home » Primary Science » Key Stage 1 Science » Homemade slushy drink with ice and salt

    Homemade slushy drink with ice and salt

    April 23, 2018 By Emma Vanstone 7 Comments

    The recent mini heatwave in the UK meant we needed some serious help cooling down, so we had another go at making homemade slushy drinks!

    To make a slushy drink you need to partially freeze a lovely fruity liquid.

    What is freezing?

    Freezing is the process in which a liquid turns into a solid when it’s temperature drops below it’s freezing point.

    What is melting?

    Melting is the point at which a solid turns into a liquid.

    Is freezing and melting point the same?

    Apart from a few exceptions the freezing and melting point of a liquid are usually the same temperature.

    There are a several ways to make a homemade slushy drink. You could freeze a ready made smoothie in an ice cube tray and then experiment with how to make the cubes melt enough to drink or use salt and ice to freeze your slushy.

    homemade slushy drink made from frozen smoothie

    If you choose to use the ice cube method you could then:

    • Set up two or three glasses with the same number of ice cubes and place them in different places to see which melts first or do the opposite and try to stop the smoothie cubes melting by covering them with foil and/or bubble wrap.
    • Investigate to see which colours you can make with the different juices

    Top Tips

    Let the juice cubes melt a little bit before removing from the ice cube tray. They will feel sticky to start with, this is because the ice is freezing the moisture in your fingers.

    Why does ice take up more space than water?

    Did you notice that the frozen juice took up more space in the ice cube tray than the liquid juice? This is because as water molecules freeze they link together forming a structure with big holes, the gaps in the frozen water take up more space than when it is a liquid.

    We call the temperature at which water changes from a liquid to a solid it’s freezing or melting point. The two are usually the same, but liquids can be supercooled below their freezing point. We can supercool water or a drink using a mixture of salt and ice, which brings me to the next slushy making method.

    Make a homemade slushy drink with ice and salt

    What you’ll need

    Two plastic sandwich bags – these must seal securely

    Smoothie drinks

    Ice

    Salt

    How to make a homemade slushy drink

    Pour some smoothie into one of the plastic sandwich bags and tightly seal the bag.

    Add a good amount of ice and salt to the second sandwich bag. Place the smoothie bag inside this one and give it a good roll around. If it gets too cold to hold, cover with a towel, but keep rolling the bags so the smoothie bag is mixed into the ice and salt mixture.

    freezing with ice and salt

    You should find that after a few minutes your liquid smoothie turns into slush!

    Why does salt and ice freeze a liquid?

    When salt it mixed with ice it makes the ice melt as it lowers the freezing point of the ice, this is known as freezing point depression. The more salt you add ,the lower the freezing point. For the ice to melt heat must be absorbed from the surroundings ( in this case the smoothie mixture ) causing the smoothie to freeze.

    Make your own slushy drink

    Reading confetti has another fun twist on this method, and made slushy drinks using a salty, ice core. I really want to try this.

    Slushy science

    Did you know you can also use this method to make ice cream and cool a drink down very quickly too?

    Science concepts

    • Changes of state
    • Cooling
    • Melting

    Great for:

    Science at home

    School science club

    Just for fun

    Homemade slushy drinks made with ice and salt. #kitchenscience #slushydrinks #scienecforkids

    If you enjoyed our homemade slushy drinks you’ll love my book full of edible science experiments!

    Snackable Science - Science book for kids

    Affiliate links

    Last Updated on August 10, 2022 by Emma Vanstone

    « How to cool a drink quickly
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    Safety Notice

    Science Sparks ( Wild Sparks Enterprises Ltd ) are not liable for the actions of activity of any person who uses the information in this resource or in any of the suggested further resources. Science Sparks assume no liability with regard to injuries or damage to property that may occur as a result of using the information and carrying out the practical activities contained in this resource or in any of the suggested further resources.

    These activities are designed to be carried out by children working with a parent, guardian or other appropriate adult. The adult involved is fully responsible for ensuring that the activities are carried out safely.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Lorie

      August 02, 2013 at 12:51 pm

      Thanks so much for the feature! My kids and I love this series!

      Reply
      • ScienceSparks

        August 03, 2013 at 8:18 am

        So glad you are liking it Lorie, and thanks for the great posts. x

        Reply
    2. Pinkoddy

      August 12, 2013 at 10:54 am

      I love your ideas – my children are very interested in ice-cubes currently too.

      Reply

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