We are finding lots of fun ways to stay cool this summer and beat the heat. However this might be one of the kids favorite ice activities so far. It combines 2 of my kids favorite things…ice and glow sticks. As we were setting up this activity, it looked like something my kids would totally get into. I was right, the kids absolutely loved this simple Glow Stick Ice Painting.
Materials needed to make a Glow Stick Ice Painting:
- Glow Sticks – we used both the skinny bracelets and the thicker glow sticks. Both worked great
- Thick Ice Block – thick enough to make sure that it won’t crack when you drill holes in it.
- Electric Drill – please take precautions when using power tools
- Drill Bits – find one that is just larger than the glow stick. We also used a drill bit extender.
- Water Color paints
- Paint Brushes
- Course Salt
- Tray to catch any of the drips
We drilled about 4 holes into our ice block deep enough to hide a Glow stick in. One of the things that we found out the hard way was to keep the drill moving. If you let the drill sit in the ice it will freeze there. Oops. The ice eventually melts so you will get it back, it might just take a while;)
Place a glow stick into each of the drilled holes and set the glowing ice block on a tray. Set out the water colors, brushes and salt beside the ice and invite the kids to start creating.
We had so much fun with this activity that I forgot to take photos. I guess that us a sign that it was a hit;)
Next time I will make more ice blocks. They were so fun to paint on and my back yard looked great!
Here is another great way to create a Glowing Ice Painting! The set up is super simple and your kids will love it! You might be surprised by how we managed to make the ice glow!
We also enjoyed this simple Ice Painting Activity. It was so simple and the kids LOVED it!
If you are still looking for more glowing art, check out this fun Glowing Ice painting from Growing a Jeweled Rose. Another great way to use glow sticks and Ice to create art!
Glow sticks are very popular at our house, my girls would love this! Going to give it a try once I make some more room in the freezer 😀
Anyone using glow sticks I would like to urge to be very careful and very cautious. My twelve year old son cracked one but it must have been defective because it accidentally broke open and it splashed his face – getting in his eye, (instantly we rinsed his eyes with an eye wash station but immediately they were burning and it didn’t seem that theywere letting up).
We proceeded directly to the Emergency D epartment and they took him in instantly getting his eye flushed with saline as it was burning and the regular eye wash did not touch the amount of flushing that needed to be done to remove the toxic matireial that entered his eye, we also were discharged with eye drops! Fortunately he has his sight, thanks to the quick action of the doctors and Nurses at the Lethbridge Regional Hospital!
I had no iidea something geared to kids would be so dangerous & didn’t at least have bold warnings for parents to open the product for children and warn against the material inside!
Just an FYI re: glow sticks – according to Poison Control (yes, I had to call them before) the liquid in a glow stick is nontoxic. The thing to be concerned about in them is what breaks when you bend them: glass. One liquid is inside tiny glass beads, and when you bend the stick, the beads break and the two liquids mix. So, you do need to be concerned about broken glow sticks, but it’s because of broken glass, not toxic liquid!