How to make frozen ice paint sticks for toddler art
Add an exciting new spin to preschool art with these colourful frozen paint sticks – made with just paint, water, some lolly sticks and an ice cube tray
Toddlers and preschoolers love messing about with paints – but they don't always find it easy to hold and manipulate the paintbrush. These brilliant frozen ice paints have a nice, short lolly stick to hold, which makes it super-easy for small fingers to make more controlled blobs, patterns and shapes. And, of course, thrill of having frozen paint is a real bonus!
MadeForMums crafter and mum of 2, Jo Edwards, created these wonderful frozen ice paint sticks, to help keep her children Esther, 3, and Seth, 15 months, really busy.
Both my 3-year-old and my 15-month-old had such a good time creating lots of pictures with these – and they are also brilliant for colour learning
"It’s such an easy craft idea," says Jo. " The colours looked amazing in the ice cube tray and the children couldn’t wait to start. They both loved it. And the pictures looked great when they'd dried."
Here's how to make frozen ice paint sticks...
You can follow our video guide (above) or our picture step by step instructions below:
You will need:
- Lolly sticks
- Ice cube tray
- Water
- Food colouring or paste
- Paper
Step 1: Prepare the Colored Ice Cubes
Cut your lolly sticks in half. Fill the ice cube tray with water (don’t overfill). Add a small drop of food colouring or paste to each individual compartment of the tray (use as many colours as you have). Dip a cut lolly stick into 1 of the compartments, using it to mix the colour in with the water, then leave the stick standing up in that compartment. Repeat until all the compartments have lolly sticks in them.
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Step 2: Create Art with Frozen Paint Cubes
Freeze the ice cube tray until the cubes are set. Take the tray out of the freezer. Get your piece of paper ready, then show your child how to pick up a cube by holding its lolly stick – and start painting on the paper!
Jo's top 3 frozen ice painting tips:
- Make lots of room in the freezer before you begin, so that the paints don’t get bashed by other stuff while they're freezing.
- If you want really bright colour, it's probably better to use food colour paste than liquid food colouring.
- Food dye (paste or liquid) does tend to stain everythings so cover up your surfaces – and your kids!
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