These simple ice decorations are very easy to make, look fantastic, and provide lots of learning opportunities as children observe water freezing, becoming ice, and then melting back into a liquid.
Young children will enjoy feeling the ice ( let it melt a little first ) and trying to melt it by dropping warm water on top. Droppers or pipettes are good to use for sprinkling water on ice and also help improve fine motor skills.
Older children can try hanging the decorations in different areas outdoors to see where they melt the fastest.
Another idea is to try to stop the ice from melting by building a shelter for one of the ice cubes or wrapping it in a material that will reflect heat from the sun or insulate the ice from the sun’s heat.
You’ll need
- A selection of natural items – only choose flowers that have fallen to the ground.
- water
- a freezer
- small paper cups
- string – cut into short lengths
How to make spring ice decorations
Place the flowers, leaves and other natural items into the paper cups.
Fill to almost the top with water.
Place a piece of string in each cup, ensuring one end is submerged in the water.
Place in the freezer until frozen.
When you’re ready to play, take the cups out of the freezer and let them melt for a few minutes.
Push on the bottom of each cup to release the ice decorations.
Either hang the decorations somewhere safe ( remember they may fall off the string as they melt ) or experiment with them!
Investigation ideas
Race a friend to find out who can free their spring treasures from the ice first.
Place one decoration in warm water and one in cold water to discover where the ice melts fastest.
Leave a decoration in a sunny spot and one in the shade to find out if the ice in the sunny spot melts faster.
Use a large container to make a big flower ice block. Try to melt the ice using sprinkles of warm and cold water or even a little salt.
More outdoor science ideas
Try one of my science ideas for a sunny day.
Find out what happens to a dandelion in water.
Build a tin foil river like Farm Wife Crafts. This would be a great activity for trying some dam building too!
Once you’ve finished with the ice, try to dissect one of the flowers. This is a great way to learn about the different parts of a plant.
Try one of my other ice excavation ideas.
Last Updated on March 27, 2025 by Emma Vanstone
Leave a Reply