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Arctic Animal Rescue

Both Baby E and I have not been feeling very well this week, which leaves my 3 year old, J, as the only healthy one in the house during the day.  So I needed to find some great activities that would keep him busy while I dealt with a sick baby.

Pulling out this activity was a saving grace for us.  He played with it every morning and I was able to sit and try to feel better.

Arctic Animal Rescue - A great water activity for all kids!

The invitation was easy enough, but you do have to prepare it a day ahead.  I put a few sea animals in small plastic containers and filled the containers with water.  I froze them in the freezer overnight. 

When we were ready to play,  I filled up 4 squirt bottles with colored water, put some salt in a bowl with a spoon, added a hammer and a screwdriver, and placed it all in a big plastic container and added the frozen ice blocks.

Arctic Ice Rescue:  A great activity for all kids!

I told him that his sea animals were stuck in the ice, and I challenged him to get them out.

Arctic Animal Rescue: A great water activity for all kids

He wasn’t quite sure what to do at first and just looked at it.  I could see the wheels turning.  After a bit, he decided that he would start with the screwdriver.

Arctic Animal Rescue - A great water activity for all kids!

Then the hammer.

Arctic Animal Rescue - A great water activity for all kids

In the end, it was the colored water that freed those animals.

Arctic Animal Rescue - A great water activity for all kids.

He really enjoyed watching the ice melt away and seeing his animals again.  

Arctic Animal Rescue - A great water activity for all kids

He made up stories about how his animals got stuck and how he was going to rescue them. 

Arctic Animal Rescue - A great water activity for all kids

I’ve re-frozen his sea animals every night and he’s freed them almost every morning this week.  You know it’s a good activity when kids want to play with it more than once!

I like how he got to practice problem solving, both his fine motor and large motor skills, learn a bit about science, and get outside too.  I especially liked that it kept him engaged when I wasn’t feeling all that great.

Now, I’ll always keep toys frozen in the freezer incase he wants to play!

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by Amanda 3 Comments

Filed Under: Play Tagged With: Fine Motor Play, Invitations to Play, Large Motor Play, Preschool, Water Play

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kristy

    May 5, 2014 at 10:49 pm

    This is great! I can’t wait to do it with my 3 yr old this summer. Thanks

    Reply
  2. Linda

    August 31, 2017 at 10:49 am

    I did this with my 3 yo grandson. I set it up with a story of an unfortunately, unhappy Mr. Freeze. He tried to destroy Christmas by freezing children’s toys in ice. Of course Santa and his elves thwarted the dastardly plans. I ended the story with, “I heard Mr. Freeze would still visit around trying to stop happy toys from playing with their little boys.” With that set-up we found the frozen toys in the freezer and worked to set them free. Unfortunately the hammer worked the best , so I provided him goggles. He loved it and wanted to talk about it over and over. He requested me tell him the story again for his bedtime story. *Note: I always preface my stories with, “this is make believe and it’s always fun to pretend!”

    Reply

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