Materials:
Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple food coloring
Six plastic ice cube trays
Small pitcher
Water
Large, shallow plastic tub
Directions: Fill the pitcher with water, and add a few drops of red food color. Mix well, and pour carefully into the first ice cube tray. Rinse the pitcher, and fill again, adding orange food color. Fill the second tray. Continue in the same manner with the remaining colors. When all trays are full, put them in the freezer for several hours or overnight.
When you’re ready to play, dump the ice into the plastic tub, being careful to keep each color “pure” until your child starts exploring. We also included large salad tongs and wide-mouth plastic jars. The Acorn children found this exploration quite engaging. They loved filling up the jars and examining all the colors. When interest wanes, you can always put the remaining ice into Ziploc bags and refreeze it for another time. (I would not recommend wearing mittens, as the color will stain.)
