Hot Days, Cool Play: 10 Ideas for Cool Summer Fun

Ice Tunnels

You'll need:

Large block of ice

Squirt guns or squirt bottles

Salt

Water

Food coloring (optional)

Mix water with salt and a few drops of food coloring if desired. Fill the squirt guns/bottles with salt water. Place the block of ice outside on a tarp or on the grass. Use the squirt guns on the ice block; the salt in the water will make fun holes and trails through the ice. For a variation, use paint brushes to ‘paint’ the ice block using water colors or powdered Kool Aid mixed with rock salt.

Driveway Painting

You'll need:

Paint brushes or paint rollers

Bucket of water

Let your kids use their imaginations to ‘paint’ the driveway with water.

Run through the Sprinklers or hose - Classic!

Water Balloons! Also Classic!

Water Pipes

You'll need:

Various sizes of PVC pipe, elbow and T pieces

Water hose

Have kids put the pipe pieces together and let the water flow through, (younger children may need some assistance).

Water Fight

Squirt eachother with squirt guns, squirt bottles (flexible water bottles, or from containers that mustard or catsup come in) and/or spray bottles.

Skating Rink

Make Colored Ice cubes and let them ‘skate' on foil rivers and lakes. (if you have fun shaped ice cube trays, all the better!

Fruit Salad

You'll need:

Cookie tray

Various fruit (oranges, melons, grapes etc.)

Melon scoop, child safe knives, other kitchen gadgets of choice

Plastic shower curtain or oil cloth

Be ready for this play to be messy! Set up your oil cloth or shower curtain underneath your play surface to catch the drips. Allow your children to explore the fruit, using kitchen gadgets if they want. Squeeze the oranges into cups for juice. Cut the melon, use the melon baller for various fruit. If your kids don’t get carried away, you may have a fruit salad for dinner.

Frozen Sidewalk Chalk

You'll need:

Ice cube trays, muffin tins, or popsicle molds

Corn starch

Water

Food coloring or kool aid

Mix the corn starch and water in a 2 to 1 ratio, add coloring, divide into ice trays, muffin tins, popsicle molds, or any other fun-shaped holder, and freeze. When they are frozen, take them out of the trays and use them to draw on the sidewalk or driveway.

Icebergs

You can never go wrong with any kind of ice and water play. Combining the two is even better. Freeze ice in various sized/shaped containers; once frozen place in larger bin or bucket filled with water. Children may want to float cars or plastic animals on the ‘icebergs’ and explore how the ice can’t sink even if you push it to the bottom. For older children, let them figure out how to get the ice out of the containers by providing them with warm water. They can also experiment with the melting temperature of sidewalks, patios, etc.