• Menu
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

Little Bins Members

Little Bins for Little Hands

Simple Science and STEM for Every Day

Header Right

  • STEM
    • Jr Engineer
    • Coding
    • STEM CHALLENGES
  • Science Activities
    • Environmental Science
    • Physics
    • Geology
    • Space
    • Ocean
    • Weather
    • Rainbows
  • Seasonal
    • Fall
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
    • Winter
    • Christmas
    • Valentine’s Day
    • Spring
    • St Patricks Day
    • Easter
    • Earth Day
    • Summer
    • 4th of July
  • Art
    • Famous Artists
    • Process Art
    • 10+ Easy Homemade Paint Recipes For Kids
  • Slime
  • LEGO
  • Shop
  • Join
    • Little Bins Club
    • Library Club

Mobile Menu

  • STEM
    • Jr Engineer
    • Coding
    • STEM CHALLENGES
  • Science Activities
    • Environmental Science
    • Physics
    • Geology
    • Space
    • Ocean
    • Weather
    • Rainbows
  • Seasonal
    • Fall
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
    • Winter
    • Christmas
    • Valentine’s Day
    • Spring
    • St Patricks Day
    • Easter
    • Earth Day
    • Summer
    • 4th of July
  • Art
    • Famous Artists
    • Process Art
    • 10+ Easy Homemade Paint Recipes For Kids
  • Slime
  • LEGO
  • Shop
  • Join
    • Little Bins Club
    • Library Club

Ice Melt Science Experiment {Saturday Science}

Ice Melt Science Experiment

Preschool Water Science & Saturday Science Blog Hop

ice melt science experiment coverWe love water themed science experiments!

ice melt science experiment what paint looks like on ice

This time we thought we would add some water colors to really illustrate what happens when salt erodes the ice and prevents it from refreezing! We even turned it into a cool painting activity as the ice melted and the colors ran together. The science of why ice prevents water from refreezing is a little difficult to explain to my preschooler but watching what happens and talking about what he sees is an excellent start to future experiments!

Quick and Easy Set Up:

ice melt science experiment set up

Since it is still fall I thought I would use our pumpkin ice-cube tray and make pumpkin cubes! I don’t think it mattered much to Liam but they were cute. He actually thought they looked like igloos which may have been more appropriate! I let him pop them out into a baking dish to contain the mess. I also prepared a dish of salt and water colors for testing and observing!

Testing The Ice Melt Science Experiment!

ice melt science experiment testing and observing salt on iceThe first part of the experiment was simply with the salt and ice pumpkin-gloos! Great idea to break out a magnifying glass. He could watch the salt work at the ice. We didn’t really talk about ions mixing with water to change temperature to prevent refreezing, but you could! We did talk about how water can be both a solid and a liquid! Now to better illustrate what is happening between the salt and the ice, we used some water color paints (food coloring works too). You can really see where the color goes and how much the salt has changed the ice!

ice melt science experiment testing paint on salt ice

 

Extend the Ice Melt Science Experiment!

Liam decided he wanted to paint with the watercolors, ice and salt. I happily obliged and got him a large piece of paper. He took the partially melted hunks of ice out of the dish and painted with them on the paper. He put more salt on the paper and used the water colors to paint the salt. We watched the salt absorb the paint and make cool effects

ice melt science experiment painting and adding saltThe ice of course continued to melt and he added more salt and more paint!

ice melt science experiment painting with water colors and salt

He painted for quite a while until there was no more white space and quite a few puddles!

ice melt science experiment final observationsPlease Join us for the Saturday Science Blog Hop!

 Mom’s Have Questions Too

 P is for Preschooler

 Teaching Momma

Please visit all our great science experiments! Blog hops spread the love. I will pin all your great posts to my Science Experiments Pinterest Board too!

Little Bins for Little Hands

Previous Post: « Mini Fine Motor Skills Activity Tray {Fine Motor Fridays}
Next Post: 10 Best Picture Books for Preschoolers {Top Ten Tuesday} »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Emma

    November 9, 2013 at 5:59 pm

    Science and art combined! My daughter loves watching ice melt with the help of salt, but I think that’s just because she likes being able to shake the salt without restriction! 🙂

  2. Katie @ Happily Ever Mom

    November 9, 2013 at 10:56 pm

    Such a great idea! I can’t wait to do this with my preschooler this week!

  3. littlebins

    November 14, 2013 at 2:06 am

    Probably the one type of activity my son always asks for is science experiments! Hope you enjoy it too!

  4. littlebins

    November 14, 2013 at 2:07 am

    Glad salt was only .79! We used a lot and we made a little bit of mess but it was great!

  5. Jill

    November 14, 2013 at 3:27 am

    This is a cute variation on the ice melt experiment that looks like a lot of fun too! Thank you for sharing and for linking up this week to the Thoughtful Spot Weekly Blog Hop.

  6. iGameMom

    November 20, 2013 at 6:52 am

    Love the experiment. Thanks for sharing at Mom’s Library. I am featuring this on iGameMom “18 fun Science activities for kids of all ages”.

  7. littlebins

    November 20, 2013 at 4:50 pm

    Awesome thanks! I love science experiments!

Trackbacks

  1. Fun Winter Activities - Making Mommas says:
    March 15, 2021 at 3:17 pm

    […] Water and ice melt from Little bins for Little hands […]

  2. Ice Play Simple Sensory Activities | Little Bins for Little Hands says:
    May 16, 2021 at 6:24 pm

    […] Ice Melting & Painting Activity […]

Primary Sidebar

We have a PASSION for SLIME, and are dedicated to helping you make the best slime ever. Questions? Just ask us!

We also LOVE science and all things STEM. Join us on our journey to discover just how cool science can be. Want to know how to get started? Click on any of the images or menu options!

Site Footer

Sign Me Up!

Take our FREE 5-Day STEM Challenge with boredom busting activity ideas for kids!

Privacy Policy