Hatching frozen dinosaur ice eggs sensory play is designed for preschoolers and kindergarteners to explore science and STEM through hands-on small world play.
Hatching frozen dinosaur ice eggs activity is a fun sensory play that will lead to awe and scientific discovery! This imaginative, small world play is great for any dinosaur loving child! Also, this dinosaur eggs ice excavation science experiment is very simple to set up, and it will provide hours of sensory play and STEM learning! Besides, most of what is required for this sensorial exploration, you probably have at home. Most importantly, with just salt and water, your preschooler can explore science, water play, and STEM education through this fun icy activity! Furthermore, using balloons to shape dinosaur eggs is an easy way to set your excavating dinosaurs sensory bin.
You’ll need to make this frozen dinosaur eggs activity:
- small dinosaurs – buy here Dinos TOOB which are the perfect size! The TOOB set includes an Apatosaurus, Triceratops, Iguanodon, Dilophosaurus, Stegosaurus, Ankylosaurus, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Dimetrodon, Velociraptor, Spinosaurus, Diplodocus, and a Pteranodon.
- balloons
- water-resistant tray (we are using this metal tray)
- warm water
- droppers
- squeeze bottle
- child-sized hammer (optional- buy a less expensive hammer here)
- salt (optional)
HOW TO make this easy frozen dinosaur eggs for ice melt science play:
First, place a dinosaur inside each balloon. You might want to inflate the balloon a little to help a dino through. Then, carefully fill the balloons with water just enough to have your dino float in it (make sure not to overfill), and tie it off. Thereafter, pop them in a freezer laying flat, and make sure that nothing squishes them so that they retain their nice ovoid shape.
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.
Wait until balloons are completely solid, and then remove from the freezer. Next, cut and peel off the balloon revealing the frozen “egg.” Using balloons to shape dinosaur eggs is an easy way to set your excavating dinosaurs sensory bin. This is also an awesome problem-solving activity: “Oh! The dinosaurs are trapped inside the ice eggs! What can we do to help them hatch?” Your little explorer would soon discover that warm water is best at melting the ice!
During this dinosaur eggs ice excavation activity, your child can use warm water, droppers, and salt to help the dinosaurs hatch. However, using a hummer is much more fun! So, if you are up to hammering some ice eggs, make sure your child wears glasses for protection and that no “fossils” or dinosaurs are damaged in the process!
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!
Ways to adopt this dinosaur eggs ice excavation :
I hope your preschooler or kindergartener will have fun with this hands-on sensory small world play by hatching and rescuing frozen dinosaur eggs while exercising gross and fine-motor control by chiseling and melting the eggs down. We often enjoy freezing and thawing small animals, pom poms, letters, numbers, Lego pieces, flowers, and even baby chicks, and trying to work out how to release them from the ice blocks is a fun science activity for small children to explore!
You can also take this activity outdoors and hide the eggs in the undergrowth, offering little paleontologists to find and rescue trapped friends. Thereafter, use your dinosaurs for small word imaginative play or play with them while reading some favorite dinosaur storybooks. (We love My First Discoveries and Little Kids First Big Book of Dinosaurs among the few – check out all our favorite Dinosaur materials and book on my Amazon Page.)
With the highest regard, this is a sponsored post with Safari Ltd. All opinions are my own, from the heart, and I am so excited to collaborate with this amazing team that brings Toys That Teach to our children. You can read more about Safari Ltd ’s mission of “educating children about the importance of nature and its conservation through the joy of play” here.
Want more?
Here, I am reusing the cloud dough from Rainbow Gem activity. When I combined all the colors, the resulting mixed color resembles a nice earthy tone. So here, I have set up a play-dough invitation to explore oviparous animals and their eggs. Simply hide birds and dinosaurs in a play-dough “egg” and offer your little one to discover what is inside! Did you know that “oviparous animals” lay their eggs with a little or no other embryonic development within the mother? This is the reproductive method of all birds (and dinosaurs who are their ancestors), amphibians and most fish.
For more Dino inspired activities, see our entire Unit Study here.
Adult supervision is required.
♡ Enriching the Mind one Heart at a time ♡
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