Even though it was miserably hot, we’ve used lots of ice to keep us cool.
So far, George has played with ice cubes [a simple sensory activity for babies] and Henry discovered a healthy snack of fruit in a frozen ice excavation.
We even managed to keep cool while creating art!
I’ve seen a lot of ice cube paintings out there, where you color some ice cubes with some food coloring. It often gives a watercolor effect, often very pastel.
For this paint project, I was looking for a something a little more… vibrant!
So we got artsy with some frozen paint.
Instead of just coloring ice cubes, we froze entire cubes of paint, with just a dash of water to top it off.
I stuck with our favorite combination of colors: blue and yellow. They make Henry’s favorite. Green.
When I topped off the paint with water, the colors kind of combined in the ice cube tray, but they were only green on top, underneath was still yellow or blue. [Looking back, I only needed to freeze about 3 cubes of paint, we have 9 more in the freezer waiting for another hot paint day!]
I stuck the paint in the freezer for about 20 minutes and then added the craft sticks. [I used these craft sticks because that's what I had on hand.] I’m not quite sure how long they took to freeze, we stuck them in the freezer in the morning, and they were ready after nap [around 4pm].
To start painting, you just pop them out of the container like you would a regular ice cube and let the heat of the sun do its work! The cube is your paintbrush!
It took a little bit to get going, but once the heat got the paint cubes melting, it melted on the canvas so brilliantly! Very vibrant!
It didn’t take long for Henry to dive in with his hands to mix the colors together.
Along with making green, Henry made rivers of blue going through the green. He made rows of corn in fields.
And he made a huge mess! This was definitely a messy, messy activity!
With the pool out for the day, cleanup was simple and fun!
Henry jumped in and cooled off and scrubbed himself clean!
While Henry was enjoying painting, George enjoyed his ice cubes. They had a moment or two without any sibling rivalry.
It was nice. [For a moment.]
Henry continued being nice to his brother and was very specific that he made his piece of art for George’s room. He was also very specific in how it hung, which side was up.
Some more painting with frozen paint cubes:
- Painting and melting ice at Logan and Kalia’s Baby Blog
- Frozen Tempera Paint at Color Color Color
- Painting with Ice at Tsuru Haus
Click the image below for 38 ways to beat the heat:
Henry is 3 years old.
About Jamie Reimer
Just great!! Love the colors!
Yay! Cooool painting! Last week We made kool-aid ice cubes and stamping with the ice cubes. I missed to keep Popsicle sticks and so it was little difficult to hold the ice cubes.
http://creativitymypassion.blogspot.com/2011/07/kool-aid-ice-cube-painting-and-dyeing.html
Love this activity! Gorgeous colours!
I was just thinking of doing this. I've been seeing a lot of icecube painting and I thought "I should just freeze paint, I wonder how that would turn out!" Thanks for showing us all. We are definitely doing this. Thanks for the post!
Fun! Didn't know paint froze? I just might have to try this in my little classroom (but outside!)…thanks for sharing! Your boys are so stinkin' cute!
I wasn't sure that the paint would freeze hard enough. I wonder if liquid watercolors would freeze? I'll have to try it.
Thanks for the fun pictures!!
MaryAnn Kohl, art book author
http://www.brightring.com
maryannfkohl.typepad.com/blog/
What kind of paper did you use?
Oh freezing paint is a great idea… love the vibrant colours!
Looks like lots of fun, and definitely an outside activity! LOL
I LOVE the colours you chose.. think working with just two primary colours always looks so great! And what fun to play with ice like that!!
Thanks for linking to Kids Get Crafty!
Maggy
Very cool! What a fun way for kids to enjoy painting
What fabulous messy fun! Henry's painting is beautiful!
:0)
{I found you on the outdoor play linkup}
Thanks for the link! While a bit messy, it's a great summer activity and clean up can be fun too!
Oooh, I'm so happy to see this more brightly colored take on the frozen paints I've been seeing!
Great post! Love the whole story from beginning to end….the rivalry… the hanging of the painting!
Fabulous! Looks like wonderfully messy fun! I'm featuring this this week, from last week's Outdoor Play linky.
I LOVE this idea! We did lots of creative art with frozen paint too. It was just so much fun.
Love the huge canvas that was made and that he put it in his lil brothers room – so sweet!
Thanks for linking up to the Sunday Showcase – can't wait to see what other fun ideas you link up this week! See you tonight for an all new linky party!!
Bernadette
What kind of paint did you use? Acrylic, tempera? Or does it matter?
great idea, but did they not try and eat the paint ice lollys
Wendy- surprisingly, no. They didn’t put it in their mouths. I had George (almost 1 at the time) busy with just ice cubes that he was mouthing the entire time.