Warm and Cold Hands
What you need
- two bowls of water, one warm from the tap and one cold
- a few ice cubes
- a cloth for drying hands
How to do it
- Put the two bowls side by side and let your child dip a finger in each. Which is warm and which is cold?
- Drop an ice cube into each bowl and watch to see which one melts first.
- Let them hold an ice cube for a few seconds, then warm their hand up in the warm bowl.
- Talk about cold things in winter, like frost and snow, and warm things, like gloves and hugs.
Why it matters
Warm and cold are easy words to find with a hand in the water, and an ice cube racing to melt in the warm bowl is worth watching closely.
What they're learning
- Warm and cold
- Feeling the difference with a fingertip.
- Melting
- Ice turning to water, faster in the warm.
- Describing
- Words like freezing, chilly and toasty.
What to look for
Notice them finding new words, like chilly or toasty, for how the water feels.
A tip
Test the warm bowl on your own wrist first: warm, never hot. Ice isn't for mouths, so stay beside them while it's out, and tip the bowls away when you finish.
Make it easier or harder
Easier: just the two bowls and some ice, with no race
Harder: add a third bowl in between and put all three in order from coldest to warmest
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Sensory activities · Toddler activities with a bowl · Toddler water activities