Fun Preschool Ice Fishing Experiment!
Learning through play is an integral part of growing up and that’s why I love this experiment that I’m going to share with your today, because there’s so much to learn but it’s mainly about the fun activity – I hope you enjoy this ice fishing experiment with your littles ones!
This ice fishing experiment is so much fun for young minds (and for us as parents and carers too!) You only need a few things and you can be creating your very own pond of fish in no time!
What you need for your ice fishing experiment
- Silicone fish tray – this tends to be easier for pushing out the fish with ease
- Water – this is a crucial step not to be missed!
- Blue food coloring – this is optional but looks really good!
- Salt – table salt is best
- Straw or spoon – this is used for stirring)
- Straw or stick – this is for the fishing rod
- String – you will need about 12inches
- Bowl – for the water to go in making this more effective
- Scissors – You may need to use adult scissors for this
I find it best to gather everything together before hand so your little one is not waiting around 🙂 It’s far less stressful!
Create your ice fish
You will need to do this part in advance, but once made can stay in the freezer until ready so can be used again ad again!
To create the coloured water (I made blue fish but you might choose to do orange!) pour some water into a cup and mix with a few drops of food colouring.
Pour the mixture into your silicone fish tray mold and place in the freezer overnight.
That’s your fish all ready to be caught!
Making a fishing rod to catch your ice fish
To create the fishing rod to catch your fish with, simply tie some string to the top of your straw (you might want to add some tape to secure this in place and stop it slipping)
How to play with your ice fish experiment
To play:
- Simply fill a bowl with water (you can either leave this plain or colour this also)
- Remove the fish from the freezer and take them out of the tray
- Have your child place the string attached to your fishing rod onto the fish (this is best of the string goes all the way across the length of the fish as shown)
- Shake a little salt over the string and wait a few seconds for the magic to happen!
- Gently lift the fish up and see if you’ve ‘caught’ it! (The salt should have done its work and melted the ice allowing the strong to stick to the ice fish)
This is a really fun activity for little ones that can keep them occupied for some time if they enjoy it – I’d love to know if you have a go!
Top Tip
This does not work so well without the water – it helps the two to stick together so it’s important you keep this step in!
Extra fun ideas for your ice fishing experiment!
As always, I recommend adapting this to whatever you have so here are some variations you could change:
- Bowl – Any bowl mug or cup will do for this it doesn’t have to be anything fancy (however if you do have a plastic fish bowl then this would be a super fun addition!)
- Colours – You don’t have to use food colouring at all, it works just fine without, but if you wanted to, you could also incorporate some colour mixing fun to this activity by having the fish and water two different colours and seeing what happens when the fish melts!
- Fishing rod – don’t worry if you don’t have any straws – you could use twigs, wooden spoons, anything at all!
- Fish tray – unless you have a love of novelty ice cubes, you may not have a fish-shaped tray (you can get one here on Amazon) alternatively you could just use regular ice cubes or any mold you can find in your house!
Most of all though – I hope you have a lot of fun with this activity! And if you’d like to see more preschool fun activities then check out these popular posts:
Nature Play: Leaf Activities Preschoolers Will Love to Make and Do
28 Fun Dinosaur Activities for Toddlers at Home
Space Craft For Toddlers : How to Make a Space Helmet for Your Teddy!
Louisa | Mum’s Creative Cupboard x
