Outdoor play on a hot day is a whole lot better with a block of ice. Add a little phonemic awareness learning in with this beginning sounds activity and you have a whole lot of literacy fun!
Ice Melt and Break is a fun way for kids to work on identifying beginning sounds. They will have so much fun trying to free the objects trapped in the ice. As they rescue each object, have them identify the beginning sound of each object.
This activity does require a little of preparation so you will want to start 24 hours before the kids are ready to play.
Materials needed: shoebox plastic container, a variety of small plastic toys, water can, kid size tools such as a trowel, spoon or mallet
Fill a 1/3 of the way with water and drop in a handful of plastic toys. Freeze. Then add some more water and drop in another handful of toys. Freeze again. Finally fill to almost the top with water and add remaining handful of toys and freeze once more.
When it is time to play, take your huge block outside. Let it sit for a few minutes so that it will easily release from the container. Give the kids toy tools or spoons and let them dig out the toys.
My kids found pouring water on it helped speed up the process. As they find each one, have them say the beginning sound of each toy.
My kids found pouring water on it helped speed up the process. As they find each one, have them say the beginning sound of each toy.
Related Posts
For more beginning sounds activities, check out these posts.
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What a great one for summertime! We’ve done ice melt activities but never with the literacy twist! 🙂
Emma, I hope you fun with this variation!
That looks so fun Jodie! You are a genius for fun + educational!! 🙂