Ice Age Movie: Educational Activities and Games for 2 to 5 Year Olds

Let's face it, kids love movies, but it's been proven that they should watch no more than 2 hours of TV a day. So why not combine their love of a movie and activities that will help them learn and grow? Following are suggestions for the movie Ice Age released in 2002. These activities would also work well for preschool classes and party games for this age group.

Watch the movie

Let your kids watch the show while you prepare the activities for the rest of the day or attend to other responsibilities.

Learn About Ice, Hot and Cold

Ice Age presents a great opportunity to teach your child about hot and cold and ice.

• This activity is perfect for two or three year olds, but four and five year olds might think it is too easy. For that age group try the second activity listed. Get out two bowls. Put cold water in one bowl and warm water in the second bowl. Let your child put his hands in the water of both bowls and tell you which one is warm and which is cold.
• Gather some magazines and catalogs that you don't mind having your child cut apart. Get a blue piece of paper and write cold at the top. Write hot or warm at the top of a red piece of paper. Have your child make a collage of items that fit into the two categories.
• Get out a piece of ice and place it in a see through bowl. Let your child come and check on it throughout the day as it melts. If you want to make it a faster activity you can get out a hair dryer and use it to melt the ice cube. Let your child hold the ice cube and talk to him about how we get ice.
• Let your child put items in water and freeze them. Let them see what happens when they freeze paper, metal, plastic, etc. Freeze water in different shapes, like in jell-o molds.

Cold Snack

Pour juice into an ice cube tray and let it freeze. When it has frozen put the ice cubes into a blender with a little bit of water and crush them up. Then serve it in a cup. Your kids will love the fact that it tastes like a snow cone.

Caveman Drawings

Cut open the side of a large box and place it on the ground so that it is like a cave. Offer your child some crayons and have them make drawings on the walls of the "cave".