Warm weather means its time for the water table!
Today, I have a fun, sensory, STEM water table activity to do with toddlers that I want to share with you.
It’s a Disney in Ice Escape activity that will allow your child to explore with different tools and help them break the Disney figurines out of the ice!
It is super easy and simple to set-up, so let’s get ready to jail break these Disney figurines!
Enjoy this activity. Tag me on Instagram with the handle @lorenaylennox, so I can see your child hard at play!
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What is a STEM activity?
A STEM activity involves science, technology, engineering, and math.
According to Little Bins Little Hands Blog,
“STEM makes creators, thinkers, problem solvers, doers, innovators, and inventors. Exposing kids to simple STEM ideas at an early age today sets a foundation for higher learning tomorrow.”
In this activity, your toddler will learn the science of ice and how warm water will melt the ice. If you have an impatient toddler like myself, he will try lots of methods to break his Disney friends out of ice jail as quick as possible.
Keep reading below to see our Disney In Ice Escape Water Table Activity for Toddlers.
Materials needed for the disney in ice escape activity
- This activity can be done with any figurines. I chose the smallest one so that I didn’t take up much room in my quarantine-filled freezer.
- Small containers to freeze your figurines in
- In a similar activity, Little Bins Little Hands uses Balloons, which I think is a great idea. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any at the time.
- Eye Dropper
- I couldn’t find Lennox’s liquid dropper from his fine-motor toolset. Therefore, I ended up using a Boogiebulb (clean, I promise, I had just boiled everything at the beginning of the quarantine)from when Lennox was a baby. It did quite the job.
- Water Blaster
- Measuring Cups
I set this activity up this morning before Lennox could see me because he would have been way too curious and try to impede my doings.
I took the smallest of his Disney Figurines and put them in the storage containers and added water.
They took about 5 hours to fully freeze.
While he was napping, I submerged the containers in warm water for about a minute. Then, into a bowl, I pounded on the bottom of the containers with my palm to extract the iced-figurines.
Since it was semi-nice outside, I thought I’d bring this activity to the backyard to avoid messes. I placed the ice in his water table along with a bow full of warm water and the Boogiebulb.
All that was missing was the toddler.
How Lennox helped his Disney friends escape
First, we used boogiebulb. Lennox practiced his fine-motor skills while trying to figure out how to get water into the bulb.
He did this for about five minutes until he got frustrated that his friends were still cold.
Then, I brought out the water blaster, where he got some gross motor practice trying to get water into it.
I added measuring cups to the mix, and Lennox enjoyed transferring the water in an easier-fashion to the ice cube.
It was at this point in his discovery that Lennox’ had a lightbulb moment. He realized that the warm water removes the ice. So, to get more water onto the ice, he unplugged the drain to the water table, and let the water run over it.
Out popped Alvin! Lennox was in awe. You could see he was really proud of himself.
He did this with a few more ice cubes until he realized the ice was fragile enough to beat his friends out.
He was thrilled once they had all escaped.
It was an entertaining and educational STEM activity all in one that allowed Lennox to execute fine-motor, gross-motor, and sensory exploration all in one.
Lennox really enjoyed this activity, and I hope to try it again soon by freezing the figurines in a balloon for an Easter-related escape. Stay-tuned.
Give this activity a try, and if you do, tag me on Instagram or Facebook with the handle @lorenaylennox. I would love to see your toddler’s fascination!!!
