100+ of the Best Ice Sensory Activities for All Ages

Playing with ice is a low-cost, sensory-rich, and open-ended learning activity. Plus, playing with ice is a wonderful way to support development in learning areas like fine motor skills, cognitive skills, and language development.

This blog post will share over 100 different ways to play with ice. I’m also sharing instructions for making different types of ice, ways to color dye ice cubes, and tips for making ice play safe.

How to Color Dye Ice Cubes

For deeper colors, experiment with adding more coloring. Warning: deeper colors may mean stained hands.

How to Make Shaved Ice

With a Food Processor:

Process 2 cups of ice cubes in a food processor. Process until the ice cubes stop rattling, and you’re left with a snow consistency with few lumps. Add more

With a Blender: 

Use the “crush” setting on your blender to blend 2 cups of ice cubes for 1 minute.

How to Make an Ice Sheet

Many of these ice play activities require a sheet of ice to melt, paint on, or use as ice floats.

To make an ice sheet, freeze water on a shallow cookie sheet or in a metal pie pan.

100+ Ice Play Activities

Dozens of Ice Cube Shape Ideas

Sometimes just a uniquely-shaped ice cube is enough to inspire play. You can use these mold and shape ideas on their own, or they can be used in any of the other ice play activities I share. I will note when I have an ice shape I suggest for an activity.

• Traditional ice cube tray
• Water bottle ice cube trays
• Pie pans
• Muffin tins
• Silicone cupcake liners
• Popsicle molds
• Cookie sheets
• Ice globes
  • freeze filled water balloons overnight + cut off the balloon
• Silicone baking or gelatin molds:
  • hearts
  • flowers
  • numbers
  • alphabet letters
  • paw prints
  • stars
  • shells
  • gummy bears
  • bagel
  • bread loaf
  • dome + mini dome
  • dinosaurs
  • butterflies
  • jungle animals

TIP: Let molds thaw for a few minutes before releasing ice.

Melting Ice Activities

• Salt + ice sheet + measuring spoon
• Color dyed salt + ice sheet + paintbrush
• Warm water spray bottle + ice sheet or ice cubes
• Warm paint water + ice sheet or ice cubes
• Ice cubes + warm water pour station
• Squeezing sponges + ice
• Scrub brush in color dyed salt on an ice sheet
• Salt water + ice sheet
  • Eyedroppers to melt ice
  • Syringes to melt ice
  • Basters to melt ice
  • Marinade brush to melt ice

Exploring Hot + Cold

• Bin of warm water + scoop + bowl of ice
• Bin of ice cubes + scoops or eyedroppers + bowl of warm water
• Investigating Temperature
  1. 1 bin of ice cubes
  2. 1 bowl of cold water
  3. 1 bowl of room temperature water
  4. 1 bowl of warm water
  5. Scoop or tongs to drop ice in bowls
• Freezing Temps Experiment
  1. Set out empty ice cube tray
  2. Choose 3 colors for dyeing ice cubes (I used red, orange, and blue)
  3. Add cold water to 1/3 of the slots in an ice cube tray + dye it blue
  4. Add warm water to 1/3 of the slots in an ice cube tray + dye it orange
  5. Add hot water to 1/3 of the slots in an ice cube tray + dye it red
  6. Set a time for 15-30 minute increments to check ice cubes
  7. Have your child “test” ice cubes with a toothpick + investigate which freezes first
• Hot + Cold Sensory Bottles
  • Make 2 sensory bottles with your child. One with warm water and one with ice and cold water.
  • Add coloring, glitter, ribbons, beads, and water beads in a hot + cold theme

Exceptionally Sensory-Rich Ice Cubes

• Herb ice cubes – rosemary, mint, basil, parsley, or other toddler-safe herbs + spices
• Glitter ice cubes
• Sequin ice cubes
• Frozen lemonade or juice snack
• Frozen flavored water – lime juice, lemon juice
• Fizzy baking soda ice cubes + vinegar spray
  1. Stir 2 tablespoons of baking soda into water before freezing in an ice cube tray
  2. Mix 1 part white vinegar, 1 part water in a spray bottle
  3. Put frozen baking soda cubes on the sidewalk or in a sensory bin
  4. Spray with vinegar
• Color dyed ice cube color mixing
• Ice globes + ramps/slides
• Frozen coffee (dilute with water before freezing)
• Coffee ground ice cubes
• Ombre ice cubes
  • Dye ice cubes in an ice cube tray, using decreasing amounts of color

Ice + Process Art

Learn about the benefits of process art vs. product art.

• Painting with watercolor ice cubes
• Drawing with melting ice cubes on construction paper
• Drawing on sidewalks with melting ice
• Frozen chalk paint
  • Mix 1 part water, 1 part cornstarch, drops of food dye, then freeze in cubes
  • OR 1 part water, 1 part cornstarch, shavings of sidewalk chalk, then freeze in cubes
• Paint on ice cubes
• Paint on ice sheet
• Large ice ornament collages
  1. Fill a doughnut or bagel pan with water.
  2. Offer your kid twigs, flower petals, berries, or seeds to put into the water.
  3. Freeze the water.
  4. Release ornament from the pan and hang it outdoors on a branch.
• Mini ice ornament collages
  1. Fill a muffin tin with water.
  2. Fill a doughnut or bagel pan with water.
  3. Offer your child twigs, flower petals, berries, or seeds to put into the water.
  4. Place a loop of ribbon or yarn with the ends in the water. This will be the “hook” for your ornament.
  5. Freeze the water.
  6. Release ornament from the pan and hang it outdoors on a branch.
• Color dyed salt on an ice sheet

Ice + Imaginative Play

• Ice cubes in water + arctic animal toys
• Ice sheet floats + water + arctic animal toys
• Shaved ice + construction vehicles
• Ice cubes + gemstones + animal toys/action figures
• Ice gummy bears from gelatin mold
• Shaved ice + flower pots + fake flowers/leaves
• Snow Cone Booth Pretend Play
  • Shaved ice
  • Liquid coloring (can go the edible route or not)
  • Small cups or bowls
  • Scoop
  • Apron + gloves
• Shaved ice sculptures
  • Mold shaved ice with hands
  • Add pipe cleaners, toothpicks, twigs

Nature Play + Ice

These nature-based ice play activities are open-ended invitations for your child to explore the materials you set out. You can put these items in a sensory bin or on a tray. Making the activity visually appealing helps capture your toddler’s imagination.

• Seashell-shaped ice cubes + real ice cubes
• Freeze flowers/flower petals in ice cubes
• Stones in ice globes
• Frozen nature objects + magnifying glasses
• Freeze sticks + twigs in ice cubes (freeze so they stick out)
• Shaved ice and pebbles
• Frozen sand ice cubes
• Ice cubes + sand
• Frozen mud cubes
• Shaved ice + animal paw print ice cubes + toys with distinct paw prints
• Flower ice cubes + real flowers + water

Frozen Sensory Bins

You can easily DIY a sensory bin using a large, shallow plastic storage container. You may need containers/bowls to place in or next to the sensory bin for some of these activities.

When setting up a sensory bin, you can make it visually appealing to capture your child’s curiosity. Include different colors of ice, shapes of ice, utensils, or icy items to make the sensory bin more engaging. If you don’t have time, I promise your kid will still be interested in exploring ice + water.

• Ice cube scooping, no water
• Ice cube scooping with water
• Ice cubes + tongs
• Ice cubes + strainers with water
• Ice cubes + gemstones
• Ice cubes + reusable ice cubes
• Shaved ice scooping + strainers
• Colored ice + shaving cream
• Frozen water beads
• Fit the Cubes
  • Offer bottles with different-sized openings
  • Offer different-sized ice cubes
• Cubes + Tubes
  • Explore ice cubes + tubes (cardboard, plastic tubing, funnels)
• Color dyed ice + eyedropper + vegetable oil

Icy Items

Add these items to an icy sensory bin or explore on their own.

• Reusable ice cubes
• Reusable ice tubes for water bottles
• Frozen sponges
• Frozen citrus wedges
• Freeze small toys inside ice cubes
• Freeze ribbons or yarn in ice sheets
• Frozen water beads
• Icy magnets + magnet wands
  • Freeze small magnet toys in ice cubes
  • Explore with magnet wand toys
• Ice cube building blocks from square/cube ice molds
• Freeze water in different-sized plastic lids

Why Ice Play is Good for Kids

There are many reasons why playing with ice is great. Playing with ice:

• Stimulates the senses. Early learners can explore the different, changing textures of ice. You can check out learning ideas above for ways to add more smells, tastes, and interesting visuals to ice play.
• Develops fine motor skills. Young kids need to use their fingers and hands to scoop, pour, and manipulate the ice.
• Improves cognitive skills. Toddlers and preschoolers learn about cause and effect while investigating ice. They learn about melting, sorting, problem-solving, temperatures, and so much more through ice play.
• Boosts imaginative play. Ice cubes are engaging loose parts on their own. You can also create small world sensory bins or process art activities using ice cubes.
• Develop language skills. Keep reading to get some ideas about what to talk about during ice play.

Things to Talk While Playing with Ice

You can support language development while playing with ice. Here are a few ideas:

• Introduce new vocabulary such as “frozen,” “freezing,” “icy,” “chilly,” and “frosty.”
• Compare what your child observes to something familiar.
  • “See how that spoon is so cold it has water on it. That’s condensation like what’s on your drink cup.”
• Narrate what you are doing or what your child is doing.
  • “I saw you scoop the ice with the spoon. I’m going to try picking it up with these tongs.”
• Use open-ended questions.

Ice Play Open-Ended Questions

1. What will happen if we add more ice cubes to the water?
2. What shape is your ice cube?
3. How does it feel to hold an ice cube?
4. Why do you think the ice is melting?
5. What do you think will happen if we put the water in the freezer?
6. How can we get this ice to melt?
7. What else do you need to play with?
8. How could we do this differently?

Tips for Playing with Ice

• Make sure your child is safe and supervised at all times.
• Offer your child mittens or a bowl of warm water with a washcloth to help them keep their hands warm.
• Keep trays of colorful ice cubes or frozen treasure cubes in the freezer to grab when you need a quick activity.

I hope this post inspires some incredible play and learning. Playing with ice is an excellent way to give kids fun and stimulating sensory experience. This type of play supports development in key learning areas like fine motor skills, cognitive skills, emergent science, and language development. Ice play activities are also a unique way to approach art and loose parts play.