Ice and Water Play for Those Too Hot Days

July 31, 2025 by Sarah White Leave a Comment

I volunteer at a local botanical garden’s childrens program, and almost every week there’s some kind of water play for them. Both because water is fun and because it is hot outside. Whether you’re entertaining one kid or a bunch, it’s hard to go wrong with ice or water play when it’s hot outside.

This frozen ocean sensory bin form Simple Everyday Mom uses water, water beads and ocean animals frozen in a balloon as the basis for the bin. She adds a fizzy element, which is also always fun, but you don’t have to.

Speaking of freezing things in balloons, Kids Kubby used balloons filled with water to make frozen dinosaur eggs. These are fun on their own or in a sensory bin with trees, plants and more dinosaur stuff.

Mommy Evolution has lots of good ideas for easy ways to make icy play for your kids. I love the idea of using a bunt pan to make a giant block of ice.

The Mindful Toddler takes it on a smaller scale with toys frozen in ice cube trays. You could do some plain ones, some with toys inside, some with food coloring, etc. I did a fizzy frozen science activity for my daughter years ago that was with Jello powder, baking soda and plenty of glitter. I hid gems and little toys inside.

You can keep it even simpler and just give your kids ice to play with along with some scoops or cups, like in this idea from Taming Little Monsters. And if you need more ideas for helping kids stay cool when it’s hot outside, Taming Little Monsters also has a great list of water themed sensory activities to do in the summer. Many of these involve ice or you could add ice to them (like the lemonade one or flower soup) but there are others that just use water to make the hot season more fun.

20 Sensory Sand Crafts For Kids Who Are Tactile [Kids Crafts]

26 Sensory Calm Down Bottles To Make For Kids [Kids Crafts]

Calming Sensory Lavender Slime [Kids Crafts]

Dinosaur Swap Sensory Play for a Bit of Summer Fun

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Book Review: Borders

My brother went through a phase where he was obsessed with maps. He loved to look at maps and he would draw maps of places real and imagined. He even drew maps that followed our route when we’d go to visit our grandparents in another state!

I assume there are still kids who go through map phases, and kids with an interest in history and how things got to be the way they are. Both kinds of kids will enjoy the book Borders: Understanding the Lines that Unite and Separate Us by Karim Ressouni-Demigneux, with illustrations by Karine Maincent.

The book describes how the original borders were natural, such as oceans, rivers, mountains and deserts, and while some of those borders are still in use today, many borders are human made, decided by treaties or carved out by colonizers. It covers the history of people congregating in one place and how city-states evolved into empires, how maps are drawn and how human conflicts can reshape borders.

There are stories about walls that reinforce borders, how borders work in the air and at sea, how people cross borders with passports or as refugees and how climate change is altering the borders of some countries.

You’ll also learn some fun border facts like the fact that if you stand in the middle of the bridge over the Zambezi River you can be in four countries at once because that’s where the borders of Botswana, Zambia, Namibia and Zimbabwe meet. Or how there is only one border crossing between India and Pakistan that’s closed each night in an elaborate ceremony.

The book talks about time zones, border towns and places where countries and parts of countries are inside other countries and places where borders are less important such as the European Union.

While there are serious subjects in the book, it’s still a fun read that’s sure to interest those kids around ages 8-12 who like travel, maps and weird but true facts.

About the book: 72 pages, hardcover, published 2026 by Blue Dot Kids Press. Suggested retail price $21.95.

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