Ice Cube Jump and Smash

This ice cube jump and smash is a great ice play activity with major sensory benefits. The heavy work built through smashing ice cubes or jumping on ice cubes is huge! Plus, kids love the novelty of this sensory motor activity. Let’s break this activity down…

This was originally an activity we did during the cold winter months, BUT we also love adding a fun sensory ice smashing activity to our Summer occupational therapy idea list. Why? because during the hot summer months, smashing ice with a hammer is a fun activity to get kids moving.

Plus, this is a heavy work activity that supports emotional and behavioral regulation. You could even use colored ice that matches the colors of the Zones of Regulation.

Image has colorful ice on a cutting board. A child's hands are holding a hammer and smashing ice. Text reads "sensory ice smash"

Smashing ice with a hammer is a fun sensory activity for kids.

Ice Cube Jump and Smash

We’ve been sharing some fun sensory play activities recently, part of our January Occupational Therapy calendar.  The proprioception and vestibular activities linked up in the free calendar are sure to provide sensory experiences and input that will keep your child moving all winter long.  Hey, you can do most of these activities in warmer weather too, so be sure to save this one for hot summer days!  


This Ice Cube Proprioception Jump and Smash activity will provide proprioceptive input through movement and heavy work that can help with regulation of sensory seekers.  It’s also a great way to incorporate body awareness through proprioception. This happens when holding and moving that hammer to hit a target (the colorful ice cube!)

Try making these bright and vividly colored ice cubes and playing with sensory input today!

When you add hopping or jumping to smash the ice, like my kids did, you get the bonus benefit of the movement of jumping and hopping adds a vestibular activity component to this fun activity.

Another benefit is the eye hand coordination work from holding hitting with the hammer.

Ice Cube Proprioception and Vestibular Activity for kids that need sensory input. This is fun for typically developing children (and the adults) too!
 

 

 

Proprioception Activity with Ice Cubes

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I used a couple of mini muffin tin to make colored ice cubes.  
Fill the tins with water and then add one or two drops of liquid food coloring to each section.  Kids love this activity and it is a real experiment of color mixing.
 
Use a toothpick to mix the colors and try to achieve various shades of color by mixing more or less food coloring.
 
Once the ice cubes are frozen, turn the muffin tin
over in the sink and run warm water.  The ice cubes will pop out after a moment.  
 
Place the colored ice cubes in a bowl or on a large cutting board and take them outside.  This is a messy activity and it will stain your floors, so take big precautions if you decide to do this one inside!
 
We kept the ice cubes on the cutting board and used a hammer to smash the colored ice cubes.
 
This activity was a huge hit with my preschooler.  She loved lining up the hammer and smashing the ice cubes into chunks.  
 
Using the hammer is heavy work for a child and she needed to use two hands to hold and use the hammer, but she was able to smash the ice easily.  
 
While smashing ice cubes, my daughter remembered a similar proprioception and strengthening activity we did last year using peanut shells.  It’s another messy, yet fun activity that is worth trying!
 
Be sure to clean up any ice pieces before they melt because the liquid food coloring will dye any surface.  You may want to do this activity in the grass. NOTE: For a mess-free option, use liquid watercolors to dye the water. The colors will wash away with soap and water.
 
Related Read: Find out more about proprioception here.
 
Ice Cube Proprioception and Vestibular Activity for kids that need sensory input. This is fun for typically developing children (and the adults) too!
Ice Cube Proprioception and Vestibular Activity for kids that need sensory input. This is fun for typically developing children (and the adults) too!
 

Ice Cube Jumping

Get the kids moving with this outdoor vestibular activity.  Take the ice cubes outside and place them in the grass. Be sure to keep them away from sidewalks and driveways because the food dye will stain the surface until the rain and weather has cleared the dye away! 
 
Kids can jump on or over the ice cubes.  Ask them to jump up high with both knees bent.  For other vestibular challenges, have the child side jump or skip over and around the ice cubes.  
 
Ice Cube Proprioception and Vestibular Activity for kids that need sensory input. This is fun for typically developing children (and the adults) too!
 
Be sure to stop over and see the January Calendar for more sensory activities to do with the kids this winter! You can get it and all of our free resources by joining our newsletter subscriber list, found in the upper corner of this website.

 

Image has colorful ice on a cutting board. A child's hands are holding a hammer and smashing ice. Text reads "sensory ice smash"