Ice Lantern

from 36 months · 20-30 min · Sensory

What you need

Run a little warm water over the tub and the cup to loosen the ice, and lift the lantern out onto the tray together.
Look at the leaves and orange slices frozen in the ice, and talk about how they got there.
Dim the room, switch on the torch and stand it in the hollow in the middle.
Watch the lantern glow and sparkle, and touch the outside to feel how cold it is.
Check on it every so often to see how it changes as it melts.

Seeing water turn into a glowing lantern shows them how the cold changes things, and the glow is something special to share in winter.

Watching change: Water to ice, then ice back to water, is change they can see and feel.
Describing words: Cold, clear, glowing and melting are words that come from the real thing.
Waiting and wondering: Waiting and coming back to see what happened makes them curious.

Watch for them touching the ice, pulling back, touching again, and telling you what they can see inside.

Use only a torch with a screw-shut battery cover, and keep the lantern on its tray to catch the drips.

Easier: freeze the leaves in a plain tub of ice and shine the torch through the side

Harder: make two lanterns, one in a warm room and one outside, and see which melts first