Snow and Ice Science Activities for Preschool and Homeschool Students

Snow is a magical event to children of all ages. Preschool and homeschool students will enjoy learning about snow, hands on with these fascinating snow and ice science activities.

Note: Many of these activities require snow. If it does not snow in your area, a great snow imitation can be made using a snow cone machine or by putting ice in a blender.

Cups of Snow

As a class, fill three cups with snow. Leave one cup outside, place one cup in the freezer, and put the last cup somewhere inside where it is warm. After an hour or two, observe what happens to the snow with your students.

Melting Snow

Have your students predict if snow will melt faster in a bare hand or in a hand covered with a mitten. Graph the results of the survey and then let students test where snow melts faster.

How Much Water in Snow?

Fill a bucket with snow and place a wide piece of masking tape on the side. Let each child take a guess on how much water will be in the bucket when the snow melts and record their guesses on the tape. Place the bucket near a heat source and allow the snow to melt. The amount of water in the bucket will be much smaller than most of the students have guessed.

Melting Ice

Freeze small plastic toys in ice cube trays or small cups. Let students predict which methods of melting the snow will get the toys out of the ice first: warm water, cool water, salt water, salt only, boiling water, or putting the ice close to a heat source. Graph the results and then test which method works the fastest.

Snow Colors

Give each student a cup of soft snow. Add drops of yellow and blue or yellow and red food coloring. Let your students stir the snow with a spoon and observe what happens to the snow.

Sticky Ice Cubes

Place a piece of ice in a bowl of cold water. Give students a piece of string and let them try to pick up the ice. When they come to the conclusion that they cannot do it, instruct them to place the string across the top of the ice cube and sprinkle it with salt. Wait about ten seconds and they will be able to lift the ice cube out of the water with the string.