I dug out a clear plastic bin that was just big enough that Zoë wouldn't be able to dump it over once it was full of water and filled it about 5 inches deep with warm water. I plopped the ice onto a plate, and scrounged the cabinets for a few toys. Zoë is in a dumping phase- as in dumping everything onto her head- and so I was looking for anything that wouldn't hold water well enough to be dumped. I ended up with 2 whisks and 2 small sieves out of the cabinet.
Viola. Entertainment until the ice was melted- 5 minutes.
With the ice melted and they started migrating away from the bin. NOOO. 5 minutes was NOT enough distracted time to break our funk. Desperately I tried and an idea I vaguely remembered from pinterest- dishsoap. I squired in 3 squirts and used the whisk to churn the water and we were back in business.
Green water with oodles of bubbles. It was a hit. They played for a good 20 minutes together. Enraptured and occasionally giggling and NOT whining or needing to be held. Then Jonathan ran to the other room to get our entire collection of plastic animals and they spend at least 10 more minutes playing hide-and-seek with the animals under the bubbles.
So easy for so much fun and 30 minutes of mental break time for me. Not a lot has gone right this week- but this got me through Thursday!