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Easy Ice Ornaments For Kids

While the weather is cold, we’re taking advantage of everything and anything we can do outdoors instead of wishing the cold weather away. I’ve been on a mission this winter to go outside every day and explore something new with Fletcher! These easy ice ornaments for kids are simple and easy to make but are so fun and beautiful when they’re completed! Who says ornaments are just for the Christmas season? You can make your outdoor trees look beautiful and fun with this fun activity for kids.

Getting Started

Time required: 1 hour hands-on + overnight hands-off

Ages: 3+

Supplies needed:

  • Leaves, twigs, greenery, berries, etc. Anything you can find outside!
  • Shallow dishes or pie tins. You’ll need 1 for every ornament you’re making
  • Water to fill the dishes
  • Pipe cleaners, or string or twine
  • Small gardening shears for cutting leaves or twigs (optional)

How to make the Easy Ice Ornaments for Kids:

Go for a nature walk with your kids

  • Look for leaves, twigs, greenery, berries, anything you find! Bring a pair of garden shears just in case you need them. This is a great opportunity to teach your kids about what plants are around your house if you know! I got the Wild Herbs for Little Foragers book by Janice Marsh-Prelesnik for Fletcher and it’s been an amazing learning resource for both of us!
easy ice ornaments for kids
easy ice ornaments for kids

Get a shallow circular dish or pie tin and fill with water

  • Bring the shallow dishes and a pitcher of water outside. Place the shallow dishes where you’ll leave them to freeze overnight. Fill the dishes with water.
  • Experiment by using different size dishes and different shapes and allow your kids to observe the differences in freeze times! We also used different amounts of water to experiment with. We had a couple that never froze all the way and Fletcher thought it was so cool!
  • TIP: It’s much easier to fill the dishes with water outside than filling in the house and trying to carry them outside!

Place your nature items in the water in the way you want them to be frozen

  • Get creative with how you layer and arrange them, depending on what you want to show more prominently in your ice ornament. Remember, however you lay your nature items is exactly how they’ll freeze so make sure you like your arrangement before leaving them to freeze.
easy ice ornaments for kids

Fold a pipe cleaner or string in half and lay wherever you want the "top" of your ice ornament to be

  • Make sure it lays at least an inch towards the center of the ornament so it really holds once frozen. Submerge the pipe cleaner or string into the water as best you can. Drape the remaining pipe cleaner or string outside of the dish so it doesn’t get frozen into the ornament.

Let your ice ornament freeze overnight

  • This will depend on how cold it is outside and how shallow the pans are. Let it sit overnight and if it still isn’t frozen completely the next day, let it sit out longer if freezing temperatures will continue, or place the dish in the freezer to finish freezing.
  • Experiment by moving the dishes to different areas of your yard and allow your kids to come up with new ideas for getting them to freeze.
  • Did the ornaments start to freeze but then stopped? Why did that happen? Was the sun shining on them?
  • Do you need to continuously move them to shady spots during the day to allow them to continue freezing?

Remove your ice ornament from the dish

  • If you used a non-stick dish to freeze your ice ornaments, they should pop right out once frozen. If you’re having a little trouble removing your ornament from the dish, soak a washcloth with hot water and rub it around the outside of the dish until it loosens. You could also run the dish under some warm water, just make sure you have your hand over the ornament so when it comes out, you’re ready to catch it!
easy ice ornaments for kids

Hang your ice ornament from a tree outside and enjoy your beautiful artwork

  • Hang your ice ornament wherever you can best admire your work. They look beautiful in trees, but you could also hang in on your porch if you have the hardware already set up. Enjoy the ice ornaments for as long as they last. Make sure to get a picture!
easy ice ornaments for kids
  • Experiment by hanging ornaments in different places in your yard and after a couple of hours, allow your kids to observe the differences they see. Here are some things you might see and ask your kids:
    • Are some melted while others are still intact?
    • Are some slowly dripping water from them?
    • Is the sun shining on the ones melting?
    • Are the ones still intact in the shade?
    • What causes them to melt?

With just a few supplies you have at home and some items found in nature, you can have this beautiful piece of artwork that your child has created. This activity also encourages movement and observation as you’re getting outside to look for items for your ornament. You’re getting quality time with your child and getting a craft from them they can enjoy as long as the weather is cold. If you made Easy Ice Ornaments for Kids, tag @getburgerfit on social media and leave us a review below to let us know how it went!

Looking for more winter kids activities?

Get the instructions for Frozen Orbs with Hot Lava activity!

Meet Alane and Fletcher

Alane Boyd headshot

Alane Boyd

Host of BurgerFit Fridays

Alane has kept her 40 lb weight loss off since 2013, and created BurgerFit and Cooking with My Friends as a way to get her family eating better. Her health journey started in 2012 after being diagnosed with high blood pressure and obesity. Frustrated and determined, Alane decided to make small, sustainable changes in her diet so that it would be maintainable for a lifetime. Now Alane maintains a healthy weight range and has incorporated quick and easy recipes that keep her picky family members eating better!

Fletcher Host Pic

Fletcher

Official BurgerFit Taster & Musician

Fletcher enjoys break dancing, cooking, sports commentary, and running really fast speed - anywhere and everywhere. He is an avid lover of music and plays harmonica, drums, and guitar. From a young age, he has loved being a part of whatever his parents, Alane and Micah, are doing. He has even started coming up with recipes of his own to test out. His dream is to own 10 coffee shops from Tennessee to Arizona to Minnesota.

Growing up together

There is no doubt that even as we get older, we don’t stop learning and that is what both Fletcher and I have done together since I had him. I’ve grown a ton raising him and watching him grow. I like to think we are both growing up together. I have tried to incorporate Fletcher in everything I do from to cooking and cleaning the kitchen, to practicing for media events, to traveling the world for speaking engagements. I try to make it fun so he keeps wanting to be a part of it. Not everything is a win but everyday is a new adventure!

Want more ideas from Alane?

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Alane Boyd

Alane is the co-founder of BGBO Co, a business consulting company that helps business owners achieve their biggest goal and overcome their biggest obstacle. She is also the creator of BurgerFit and the host of Cooking with My Friends. Both were started to inspire people to eat healthier.

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