ice fish

Almost two years ago I picked up a fish ice tray at IKEA.  It seemed like it had so much potential to be used in a creative, fun way with a toddler.  And for the past two years, I have been trying to figure out how to use it for something fun with Jonathan.  Last weekend it dawned on me to make ICE in it.  Imagine- ice in an ice tray.

But the idea, as obvious as it wasn't in my poor little brain, turned out to be superb.  I filled the try on Friday night- water + one drop of food color in each fish.  And then, after breakfast, I filled an empty plastic container (this one had spinach originally, I think) with warm water and voila- crazy fun for about 10 minutes.

He had no idea what they were at first- I just told him it was a surprise and let him explore.  Jonathan loved watching them melt and seeing the colors swirl in the water.

Seeing the moment that their tails melted off was also a hit.

He was delighted as the water got murkier and murkier and kept asking where the fish had gone.  It was like magic!

He could have thrown 100 fish into that water and not gotten tired of it.  So once we ran out, I let him fill it again with a teaspoon and we put it back in the freezer for after nap-time.  Hours went by between our fish adventure and nap time- snacks, stories, play, lunch, etc. And when he woke up from his nap?  The first words out of his mouth were: Where are the fish?!?!  Awesome.  We did this about 5 times over the course of the weekend and he loved it as much each time.