i did this for micah’s birthday once with a dinosaur theme.  at preschool we use this for any letter of the alphabet since we can hide anything in the ice (except maybe u or x things…ideas, anyone?)!  appleseeds, counter bears, coins, dinosaurs, elephants, fake flower petals, green things, horses, jewels, keys, lace, money, nuts, o ring shapes, paper clips, quills, red things, snakes, turtles, valentines (plastic hearts), white things, yellow things, zoo animals.

but i like to use it during i week since that’s kind of a tricky letter to find things for.

ahead of time the teacher fills containers of any kind with water, then drops in some objects that won’t break when hit, then freezes.

preschoolers are offered tools for excavating the treasures…wooden blocks work the best in my experience.

take this as an opportunity to discuss the wonder that our eyes will blink or squint to protect themselves.  encourage this against the flying ice. : )

and if it is warm outside, take it all out!  when i week falls in a cooler month, we wear our mittens and break the ice chunks on art trays.