Ice Melt Experiment

This ice melt experiment is a great way for kids to get outside and do a fun activity. Not only will they have fun but they will also do some critical thinking! 

On a hot spring or summer day there is nothing better to do than play with some ice. My youngest loves to do science so when I saw our local meteorologist share this fun ice melt experiment I knew we had to try it.

In this experiment the kids will be using some tools (and warm water and salt) to try and free some toys from the ice. It’s a lot of fun and takes some time so it’s a good activity to do when your kids are bored and you want them outside. We did this in the shade and it perfect.

Please note it takes some planning to get the ice to melt so make sure you do step one either yourself or prepare to do this in 2 days!

Prep by gathering a few small toys to put into a tupperware bowl or container. We used small LEGO pieces and other small characters. Note that some of our characters did break when we were freeing them. I think we used too many and they got stuck together causing some to break. Some of our soldiers lost a leg or arm so it was no big deal but please keep that in mind.

Add water to the top and freeze overnight.

For the Ice Melt Experiment you Will Need: 

Your Frozen Tupperware

Salt

A Cup of Warm Water

Tools to break open the ice such as spoons, kid hammer, or other kid-friendly tools you might want to use. We have a rubber mallet and we did use that as well to really smash at the end.

Towel

Goggles or Eye covering is optional

When outside turn the tupperware upside down to remove the ice block. You might have to add some of the warm water to loosen it bit. Begin by adding some of the salt to the top to help with the melting process. Kids can begin digging to help remove their toys.

You can ask questions and do some teaching lessons here by telling them salt is added to the roads when they have ice on them to help drivers. You can also talk about freezing temperature points and how water went from a liquid to a solid. It’s a great learning lesson to talk about states of matter. It’s really cool and my little guy really got into this!

Keep adding some salt to watch the ice start to melt and keep digging to reveal the toys! This is such a fun little experiment that can be done over and over.

Looking for another science experiment? Check out this baking soda & vinegar activity. It’s one that can be done in the house and is perfect for little hands.