Things we do after nap :: Ice play

Its been soooo hot! Disgustingly, depressingly hot. Now before you scold me for complaining about the heat when I live in the Seattle area let me remind you that one, I'm getting mui preggo-pants here and two, because it doesn't get hot often around here, no one has AC. That means that when its 85 outside its 100 in my flat roofed, no insulation house. Gross.
Jack and I were melting the other afternoon and so lethargic that I decided it was a good day for ice play. Ice play is a lot like water play. Its easy, so fun for littles and requires minimal clean up. Put a towel down (or not) under your highchair, strip that baby to a diaper and gather a couple of things you already have in your kitchen.

We started with some ice water in a sippy and a small plastic cup filled with ice cubes. We tentatively touched the ice and talked about how smooth it was and how it was slippery like soap in the bath tub. Jack wants to kiss everything right now so he decided to give the ice a little smootch.

"Oooooo cold!" Since we'd just had our faces next to the cup we decided to blow into the cup and feel the cold air come rushing back out.

We noticed that the ice had started melting and that there was now a little bit of water in the bottom of the cup so we talked about how ice is made from water, and then poured the water onto the tray.

Then some of the ice came out too...

Of course the next logical progression was for colored water to join the party.

We eventually added some dinosaur sponges and the color blue.

It was at this point that Mama realized we had been playing for 45 MINUTES, and that it was time to get started on dinner. I was shocked that Jack stayed engaged for so long. It was a great lot of fun and helped us stay just a little bit cooler.