Click here to read Free A Snowman Melting Ice Experiment! Fun for All Ages on Hands On As We Grow®
Help to free a snowman from a sudden freeze with this super fun and simple ice melting science experiment and sensory activity!
I’m just going to confess that science was, by far, my worst subject in high school.
Terms like “covalent bond” and “electron” cause me to descend into a rather catatonic state.
If I’d been graded based on the quality of notebook doodling, I’d have excelled. Alas, none of my science teachers viewed this as a valid method of assessment.
But now that I am homeschooling my kids, I’ve had to dredge up enthusiasm about scientific topics.
The good news is, with elementary age kids and younger, science is all super hands on and fun! I don’t even feel the least bit compelled to doodle.
This STEM snowman ice melting experiment was a hit with all three of my oldest kids, ranging in age from 2 to 8 years old!
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Free A Snowman Melting Ice Experiment Set-Up
To Make Your Own Fun Ice Melt Experiment, You Will Need:
- small freezer-friendly containers (plastic or silicone will work best)
- water
- snowman pieces: red pipe cleaner, small twigs, buttons, black beads, white pom poms, sliver of carrot
- droppers or squeeze bottles
- paintbrushes (optional)
Check out this easy scented ice sensory play idea!
This activity lends itself well to various scientific concepts.
Don’t worry; none of them involve electrons. At least, I hope they don’t. Good thing I began this post with a disclaimer about my science non-proness.
Science Topics to Discuss Before and During Your Experiment
Consider discussing the following with your kids before beginning and as you are working:
- What causes water to freeze?
- What will melt ice?
- How does temperature affect water?
- Why do objects float or sink?
How to Prepare Your Free A Snowman Melting Ice Experiment
First, gather your snowman parts.
I decided to use a red pipe cleaner twisted into a scarf shape, black beads for the eyes and mouth, small twigs for the arms, a sliver of real carrot, a white pom pom, and some yellow buttons.
If you are feeling more fun than me and long to find glitter clinging to every home surface for the next eight months, go ahead and add some sparkles to your snowman puddles.
Place your snowman pieces in the small freezer-friendly containers.
I used a silicone muffin pan.
I prepped this activity after the kids went to bed the night before, but you could easily have each kid “build” their own snowman puddle by adding their items to the container.
If you have the kids help with the prep the ice melting experiment, it is a great time to talk about why certain objects float and others sink.
Have them make predictions before you add the water!
Next, add the water and pop the containers into the freezer until your snowman puddles are frozen solid.
When the snowman puddles are frozen solid, pop them out of the containers and place them in bowls.
Free A Snowman Ice Melting Science Experiment
Add Some Imagination and Pretend Play!
Encourage your kids to pretend that they built a cute little snowman.
He was happily residing on your back deck when, suddenly, the temperature spiked–and he melted into a puddle!
But then, just as suddenly, the temperature plummeted again–and he froze into a puddle with snowman parts stuck in it.
He needs your help getting all of his snowman accessories out of the ice!
Start Melting Ice and Free the Snowman
After you’ve established Mr. Snowman’s tragic backstory, fill up squeeze bottles or droppers and a bowl of slightly hot water.
Of course, make sure it is a safe temperature for play!
Now is when the melting ice science experiment part of the freeing a snowman activity begins.
Invite your kids to work on melting their frozen snowman puddles by squeezing warm water onto them.
Hooray! A button has been freed!
I also put out paintbrushes so the kids could try “painting” them with warm water to see what happened.
Give the kids a variety of options in the experiment so they can see if larger or smaller amounts of water work faster to melt the ice or not.
My daughter figured out that if she squirted the warm water at close range, she could control exactly which part of her frozen snowman puddle began to melt.
They all loved watching the ice melt quickly right in front of their eyes!
What makes ice melt fastest? Try this fun ice melting experiment!
My kids were excited to do this melting ice science experiment, and I was thankful that it appealed to all ages.
If you’ve got a big family, you know that finding simple, low-prep activities for everyone is super helpful and makes your job a lot easier!
Ways to Extend Your Ice Sensory Play
- When they had extracted all of their snowman parts, I gave them extra ice cubes to keep playing. They enjoyed melting these ice cubes with their warm water bottles, too, so if you are short on time, skip the novelty snowman prep and just get out some ice cubes!
- If you have 3 cotton balls in the ice with the rest of the accessories then you could try glueing everything to a small blue paper and put the snowman back together. (Might want to use a piece of felt for the nose instead of a carrot tho.)
- If your kids helped with prep and you discussed sinking vs. floating, do a comparison now. Once the snowman parts were saturated with water, did that change whether or not they floated?
- Longing for some color with your ice activities? Make these easy rainbow ice cubes or try this frozen rainbow experiment!
