Ice Cube Treasure Hunt

I was right! Yesterday school was cancelled and today too. What is one to do with all that snow and time off? How about a Treasure Hunt?

I just happened to be scrolling through my Facebook early in the morning, before the kids woke up and a friend posted a picture of some ice cube trays full of colorful ice and said she was going to hide them in the snow for a little scavenger hunt.

 I immediately fell in love with the idea and already had the necessary supplies on hand

Water

Ice cube trays

Food coloring

A snowy area

So I filled our Ikea ice cube trays with water and added food coloring to each one.

Then I put them in the freezer for four hours.

I was going to hide them in the snow, but that ended up not being necessary. I just picked out a living room size area in the ground and tossed the ice cubes up in the air, letting them land where they may.

The only problem was, we had 6 inches of snow and each ice cube sank like a rock being swallowed up into the white abyss. This heart shaped one was one of the only one I could take a photo of because the rest were completely invisible. 

It still worked out though. My little excavators immediately went to work looking for the rainbow treasure.

I helped point them in the right direction and showed them how to look by kicking through the snow and stopping when they spotted bright colors.

The challenge level with this amount of snow would probably be great for a youth group or even adults! Even though it was tricky for my group, and we only ended up collecting about half of the ones I made, the kids still really enjoy the whole experience.

They got so excited each time they discovered another fish, star or heart. The great thing about the whole idea of using ice is that the ones we couldn't find are just going to melt away or maybe be a fun discovery for one of our dog walking neighbors.

If your kids are some of the thousands throughout the country experiencing back-to-back-to-back snow days then you may want to consider this fun little outdoor activity. It's so easy, I threw it together without any preplanning at all! I will admit that next time I'll ease up on the food coloring. I just used way too much and it got pretty messy. It washes off though, so it's no big deal, but next time one drop will do.

All in all this was a perfect outdoor snow day activity that is fun for any age level. We'll definitely do this one again some time.

Now time to warm up with some toasty hot chocolate and a hot bath!