Exploring the different states of water and observing the transformation from one to another makes for a fantastic sensory experience. At Tinkergarten, frozen treasures are one of our favorite ways to harness the beauty of frozen water. What are they? To us adults, frozen treasures are objects from nature frozen in pieces of ice. To kids, they are pure magic. And once made, the possibilities for play are endless!
In this activity, we invite kids to activate their problem solving skills as they try to free frozen treasures from ice. This activity is featured in our July Activity Calendar. If you do not yet have your free copy of the calendar, get it here.
The Guide
Step 1: Make frozen treasures.
Head outside with your child and collect nature treasures (e.g. small sticks, stones, leaves, flowers, evergreen sprigs) together. You can involve kids in the in the whole process—from freezing the treasures through freeing them. Or, you can sneak out ahead of time and hide them wherever you will be playing that day. To make the frozen treasures:
Place the natural objects you collected and water in freezable containers (e.g. ice cube trays, muffin tins, recycled containers).
(Optional) To inspire even more imaginative play, use a permanent marker to draw an animal on a rock and invite kids to free their pretend creatures from the freeze.
Place in the freezer (or outside if temperatures are below freezing) for at least 24 hours.
Take them out of the freezer and give them a minute to warm up, then pop them out into a bowl.
Step 2: Introduce the frozen treasures and invite play.
Show kids your frozen treasures. Or, hide them around your outdoor space and "discover" them together. Invite kids to use their senses to explore the treasures. Hold them up to the light. Can kids guess what is hidden inside?
Step 3: Free from the freeze!
Wonder, "How could we free the frozen treasures from the ice?" Support kids with testing out their ideas, then introduce new materials one at a time for kids to use in their quest.
Salt
Warm water (turkey basters can be great for this, or paint brushes could be fun, too)
Warm hands
A sunny spot
Sticks or rocks
Mallets or other utensils
Gravity!
Notice together how the size and appearance of the frozen treasures changes over time. Do the treasures melt faster in the water or on the ground? Do they melt faster in direct sun or in the shade?
Extend the play!
If kids are loving frozen treasure play, try out some of these ideas:
Freeze treasures in a cookie sheet or larger container for a super-sized frozen treasure.
Make ice soup in a bucket or container.
Take turns hiding your frozen treasures on the ground somewhere, then challenge each other to find them! (What are the best places to hide it?)
Testing different approaches to freeing treasures from ice supports the problem solving mindset that there are many ways to solve a problem. In this activity, kids activate multiple senses—ice is dazzling to our sense of sight, touch and even hearing. The intrigue and beauty of frozen treasures lend themselves easily to imaginary play. Kids will practice persistence as they test out using different materials to free their treasures from ice.
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Tinkergarten for Teachers
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We think of self control as a child’s ability to focus on something in such a way that maximizes learning. In order to do that, they first need to direct their attention and focus on a single thing. They also need to discern which information around them is most important and deserving of their attention. Thirdly, they need something called “inhibition.” Think of inhibition as the ability to control impulses, block out distractions and continue attending to the same thing. Focus, discerning and inhibition all require rather fancy brain work and are thought to be part of the “executive functions” or the set of cognitive processes involving the prefrontal cortex that help us manage ourselves and the environment to achieve a goal.
Why does it matter?
Our world is full of distractions, more today than ever. Kids who are in any learning situation need the ability to control their impulses, block out noise and attend to the person, objects, events, or discussions that are central to learning. As classroom teachers, we saw that kids who did this ruled the classroom. As outdoor educators and parents, we know the same holds true outside of school.
But don’t take our word for it; the research is impressive. It turns out that these executive function skills are closely tied to success in the classroom, higher level education and life beyond school. Experts like Adele Diamond of the University of British Columbia have shown that, “If you look at what predicts how well children will do later in school, more and more evidence is showing that executive functions—working memory and inhibition—actually predict success better than IQ tests.” Although these skills are difficult for young children and don’t crystallize until adulthood, the more kids practice them, the better at them kids become.
Problem Solving
Category:
Thinking Skills
What are Problem Solving Skills?
When we talk about problem solving, we mean the ability to solve a problem in which the solution is not obvious and in which the possible paths to solution are many. To solve such problems, kids will need two things. First, they’ll need the self confidence and comfort to both attempt to find and persist in finding a solution. The only way to develop this is to be given the chance to struggle with ambiguous situations or open-ended problems. We parents are all guilty, from time to time, of helping kids avoid struggle or swooping in to alleviate frustration when our kid encounters challenge. The goal is actually to do the opposite whenever possible. As long as the problem is not too difficult to understand or challenging to solve, even young kids can get comfortable with the feeling of not knowing the solution and fall in love with the joy of finding a solution to a problem.
Kids also need strategies to attack problems with which they are faced. If adults are able to work with kids to solve problems “as a team” but in such a way that the children feel and act “in charge” of the decisions, adults can actually teach foundation problem solving skills and strategies through modeling. For example, when you solve a problem together, kids get practice with key parts of the process like brainstorming, testing ideas, revision and solution. It’s also pretty easy to model how to use simple strategies like trial and error or breaking a problem down into smaller parts. Although children age 1 to 7 should not be expected to name, catalog or identify when to use a particular problem solving strategy, they are able to form habits and repeat approaches once those habits or approaches have become familiar. The more problems they solve, the better they know and can use these methods.
Why does it matter?
“The highest ranked skills for students entering the workforce were not facts and basic skills; they were applied skills that enable workers to use the knowledge and basic skills they have acquired” (Source: Are They Really Ready for Work? Conference Board 2006).
Although it seems a long way to go before our young children are hitting the job market, the ability to solve challenging, ambiguous problems has already been identified as a critical skill for success in the 21st Century. With advances in technology, finding information has never been easier. However, knowing how to interpret a problem and use available information to devise a solution still needs to be learned. And, we fear that the classrooms of today are neither designed nor incentivized to teach these skills effectively. In most schools, so much time is spent learning discrete skills, that applied skills like problem solving are wildly underemphasized. In a world that demands it, it is increasingly necessary that children learn and practice these skills outside of school.
Fine Motor
Category:
Body Skills
What are Fine Motor skills?
Fine motor skills refer to how we coordinate small muscle movements in the hands and fingers in conjunction with our eyes. Children begin with whole arm movements at birth and refine their movement, using smaller muscle groups as their bodies develop. With time and practice, children are able to enhance and strengthen the movements in their fingers, becoming able to manipulate small objects and perform a range of important life and learning tasks.
Why does it matter?
Kids need fine motor skills in order to perform every day tasks like using fork and knife, turning a door knob, cutting with scissors and catching and throwing a ball. These same skills are essential for tasks associated with higher level learning like hand writing and typing on a keyboard. If kids enter school without good fine motor skills, they can not only fall behind, but learning can become very frustrating. Moreover, they can develop lasting negative attitudes towards learning and themselves as learners.
Age: 3 to 8+
Time: Under 1 hour
Materials: objects from nature; ice cube trays and/or freezable containers; salt; warm water
