Frozen Dinosaurs Balloon Eggs Sensory Play

Excavating frozen dinosaur eggs from ice is a fun STEM sensory play designed for preschoolers and kindergarteners.

Today we are excavating frozen dinosaur from ice with this super fun frozen dinosaurs balloon eggs sensory play.

 You’ll need for this frozen dinosaur eggs activity:

• small dinosaurs (buy here)
• balloons
• a tray
• warm water
• child-sized hammer
• salt

HOW TO make this frozen dinosaur eggs for ice melt science play:

First, place dinosaurs inside the balloons. We are using mini Dinosaurs from a puzzle set. See here our Dinosaur Puzzles blog post or buy a puzzle with these mini Dinos here.

Then, fill balloons with water and place them into a freezer. Take this opportunity to discuss physics and the state of the matter: how the water changes from liquid to a solid state under lower temperatures.

Thereafter, once the balloons are frozen solid, offer your child to peel off the balloon, revealing frozen “eggs.”

In addition to warm water and salt , offer mittens to help rescue frozen dinosaurs while keeping little hands warm.

With the help of warm water and salt, our dino friends are emerging. 

 Advise your child to carefully remove dinosaurs from the ice egg.

During this frozen dinosaur balloon egg sensory play, Adrian managed to rescue his dinosaurs friends from the ice by defrosting eggs with salt and warm water. 

Science Mystery Revealed:

Salt is a great ice melter because it causes “freezing point depression.” That means that salt helps in lowering the freezing point and, consequently, the melting point of water, which is the main component of snow and ice. Generally, water freezes at 0°C or 32°F; but by using salt, that freezing point can be lowered. Thus, lowering the freezing point of water forces the ice to melt and prevents the water from freezing or re-freezing. Please note, however, that salt alone can not melt the ice! Rather, salt must be combined with water first to start the melting process. So, when salt touches water, salt starts to dissolve, thus lowering the freezing point and melting the surrounding ice. Voila! 

Want more?

For more Dino inspired activities, see our entire Unit Study here. 

Adult supervision is required.

♡ Enriching the Mind one Heart at a time ♡

For more ideas, find us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest.