Ice Cube Painting

This is the perfect messy activity for a hot summer day, painting with ice! And it is easy too.

I’ve used watered down tempera paint before, and food coloring and water, but this time we used diluted (washable) liquid watercolors, and I think I like that the best. It doesn’t stain like the food coloring, and when you freeze the tempera paint it works, but it separates out the water and pigment and the texture of the ice is sort of odd.

Whatever your paint though, just put it in an ice cube tray the night before, and break it out when you need something cold to play with. (Please use a dedicated art ice cube tray unless you are using food colors, art materials and food just don’t mix.)

Sometimes I add handles with popsicle sticks, (say if it is winter and we are painting inside…) but this time I really wanted them to play with the tactile coldness of the ice, since it was a nice hot day.

You can rub your melty ice cubes all over the paper, or just shake them in your hands to make a fun drip painting!