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Home » Activities

Published: Feb 28, 2014 · Modified: Aug 15, 2022 by Birute Efe · This post may contain affiliate links · 3 Comments

Ice play with DIY mini skating rink

ice play skating rink
ice play mini version poster.

For the last month we watched a lot of things happening on Ice due to Winter Olympics. It was sure a fun way to discover some new sports, new words, even new colors, new rules and of course new kind of fun.

We don't have ice outside where we live and I haven't seen any ice-skating rinks either, so we decided to make one ourselves by simply filling up a container with water and placing it in the freezer (or you could do it outside if you get freezing temperatures). For extra effect we added carton Olympic rings that we used it for my toddler's sensory activity.

2 images of mini ice rink before and after frozing.

We did ours in a kind of small pan just to try it out, but I think the bigger pan/container you use (keeping in mind you can freeze it outside) the more fun ice play will be.

Jump to:
  • Ice Play Ideas
  • What the kids learned
  • What we did this month related to Winter Olympics

Ice Play Ideas

There are endless opportunities on how to play with this MINI ice-skating rink:

  • we made mini gates from mega blocks for ice hockey game, used plastic bottle tops as hockey pucks and got some small teaspoons as sticks. We tried to follow ice hockey rules a little, but mostly kids came up with their own rules. As always! ice play gif
  • we got some marbles rolling on ice. It was super fun for my toddler to catch them while they were rolling around fast on ice.
2 kids playing with mini ice rink
  • we put little toy animals for some storytelling which surprisingly made into a very funny activity for everybody (including me).
8 images of kids playing with mini ice rink.
  • just touching ice with their little fingers was fun enough for them. As the ice started melting both kids were carefully examining and surprised of the process when the ice turned into water. Make sure to keep some towels around, because there might be some puddles around.

What the kids learned

My preschooler learned more about ice hockey and we added few new vocabulary words such as: ice hockey sticks and hockey puck.

It was a great sensory activity for both of them, while touching the ice and then experiencing melting ice right in their hands.

Kids also practiced some motor skills while catching little marbles.

I hope this post inspired you to have some ice play at home with your kids.

`Free Bag Topper Printable

dress up treat bags

What we did this month related to Winter Olympics

The famous Homemade skis 

homemade skis

Olympic puzzle for toddlers

olympic puzzle

Olympic Sensory activity

sensory activity

For more Olympic activities (including some ice play) please visit my Olympic Pinterest board.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jamie @Hand Made Kids Art says

    March 01, 2014 at 1:04 am

    What a great idea! I know my 4 year old and 2 year old would love the opportunity to "play on ice".

    Reply
    • Tammy says

      March 01, 2015 at 5:18 pm

      Great ideas! I'm going to do this for sure! Thanks for the idea1

      Reply
  2. Susan says

    January 23, 2017 at 12:50 am

    I love this idea! I am going to use it in my OT sessions, adding more fine and visual motor skills by having the kids copy a design for the Lego goals, and then work on isolating fingers as the hockey stick. Thanks!

    Reply

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