As the weather warms up, I am constantly looking for activities that will keep the boys cool (and interested). Also, there has been a lot of painting around here, which warrants the need for occupied minds while mama tries and tries to get these cabinets painted.
When Emil goes down for his nap, Milo and Oliver and I settle in for some stories, then it is time for an activity to keep them busy and relatively quiet. Lately, this has been keeping them so interested for so long, we have done it several days in a row. 
And unlike this ice activity, they can have their own separate animals to free if they need some space from each other. Plus, it is really fun to stack the cubes! 
I use this large cube tray, which is also great for parties. I like to freeze juice or lemonade combinations in them to use instead of ice cubes so they keep the beverage cold without watering it down. We use them to keep sangria ice cold, too. Plus, if you add distilled water, they won’t be cloudy, and you can use them in fancy drinks. But enough with drinks. 
This one is for animals! All you need to do is place plastic animals in the cube trays, cover with water, and freeze overnight. The next day, give the kids a watering can with warm water, or a bulb syringe, or whatever else you think they might enjoy using to free their animals from the ice: 
My boys were so enthralled with the pretend aspect of this game, really enjoying the rescue role they took on, and continued playing with the animals and water long after they were free from the ice.
Other things you can do with this activity: stack the animal ice cubes and play a sort of bowling game (Milo thought of this), or watch them melt super fast in a large tub of warm water.
Hope you are having great weather… I know we are enjoying ours!
Great idea! My boys love playing with ice, this takes it to a whole new level.
Great idea! I think I’ll be pinning this and using it on those long summer days with my littles. Thanks for sharing!
You win big time at having the best kid activity ideas.
The pig cube looks especially funny to me for some reason that I can’t articulate. It just makes me laugh.
Cool- that looks like fun! We’ve been making ice cubes a bunch because it’s the only way that W can actually drink from an open cup (I think it slows the flow of water). We have fish shaped one’s but I’ve never put anything in them. He’d definitely be fascinated by this.
And you strike gold again! We will definitely be doing this in the future. 🙂