The unseasonably warm weather is making it very challenging for us to talk about the changing seasons here at Harbor City School!  We are not complaining, we love having the ability to go outside later in the year than we anticipate, but it’s hard to talk about ice formation in the winter when it’s not quite freezing outside!  We do our best, though, and the Tugboats are keeping up quite well.

Peter explored ice with the children further today by freezing more of our toys!  He used our large container that usually holds raisins, filled it with various toys and water, and stuck it in the freezer yesterday.  This morning, during free play, he dumped the large block of ice into the sensory table and let the fun begin!  The children spent the rest of the morning trying to “rescue” the toys from the giant icy beast!  Many of the children were surprised at how heavy the ice block was.  I think perhaps they were imagining the ice cubes they are more used to seeing in their own freezers.

The Tugboats tried many strategies for removing the toys from the ice.  They quickly realized that pulling was not going to be successful.  Some tried rubbing on the ice, but their little hands got cold quite quickly!  As Peter helped them flip the cube over and over, they began to see how some of the melted water in the table was helping to melt more of the ice.  Later in the morning, they attempted to hack away at the ice with hammers and other toys, which did not last long.  No one wants an ice chip in the eye!  Finally, after the slow melt had released about half of the toys, Peter demonstrated how hot water could melt the ice at a much faster rate.

They were also very interested in the features of the giant ice block.  They loved investigating the crystalline structure and all of the stripes they could see in the ice.  As it started to melt, bubbles began forming inside the ice, which was extremely exciting!  Where were those bubbles coming from?!  As it melted, they were able to find hols that led to the larger hole inside the ice, and later, see it break into large chunks.  The giant block of ice sustained their interest and curiosity longer than almost anything we’ve seen yet.  I’m sure the slow rate of melting helped a little bit!