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Creative Preschool Sensory Play with Ice Balls

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creative sensory play with ice balls

Four-year-old Lily adores sensory play, so I am always looking for fun, creative preschool sensory play activities! I was recently offered a couple of Silicone Ice Ball Molds to review on Amazon, and I said yes because I thought they would make for some great sensory play!

We have had a lot of fun with the ice balls! The first time I stuck a couple of these little dinosaurs inside. We ran a little experiment, to see how much more quickly an ice ball would melt outside the mold, compared to inside the mold. The ice ball inside the mold did melt a little bit more slowly, but the difference was smaller than I expected.

sensory play for preschool

Once we had tested that hypothesis, it was time to play! Lily pulled them out, still partially encased in ice, and worked that into her plot. The little dinosaurs eventually freed themselves from the ice, which was now a nice puddle of water for them to jump around in in our sand table turned sensory table.

creative sensory play in preschool

I went with a more straightforward sensory experience the next time, filling the lower half of the mold with florist marbles and then adding water. The end result made for a very pretty invitation to play!

ice ball sensory play

Since there were so many marbles, they came free quickly. Lily enjoyed pulling them out of the ice, and then playing with the ice water as it melted. This was Lily’s favorite of the two activities!

indoor fun for kids: sensory play

Have you played with ice balls before? What should we try next? Want a set for yourself? I told the seller of these ice balls that I planned to blog about them, and she is offering my readers 50% off the current price through the end of March with promo code 50OFFMOM !

MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.

18 thoughts on “Creative Preschool Sensory Play with Ice Balls”

  1. Fun! I often freeze little toys in water in yogurt containers or whatever little container I have around. Sometimes I add a drop or two of food coloring. Last time I made one container with blue food coloring (and blue toys) and one with yellow food coloring (and yellow toys) frozen. This is a fun color mixing, sensory experience as the ice melts and the colors mix.

  2. Aarya would not touch ice. he will leave it alone, and then after it melts play with the water instead. Sometimes he will forget ALL about the ice and I need to keep reminding him about it. :)

  3. We’re big fans of florist beads. I love ice of all shapes and sizes (mainly because I love cold, cold drinks). Maybe compare shape of ice vs melt time?

  4. Natalie AfterschoolForSmartyPants

    Love the second idea to freeze florist beads. Science and sensory activity in one!

  5. Hmmm……. I don’t know what we’d do with them. I have to admit not to being hugely into sensory play, is that horrid of me? Though it’s partially from a couple of experiences where that just went horridly wrong with the boys and was a great big huge mess.

  6. How I wish that I had found mama smiles many years ago! So much to do and learn in my childcare setting.marjies. much appreciated

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