The children explored ice balloons in groups last week. They used all their senses to explore by feeling the balloon, looking and describing it, smelling it – one child told me it smelt “frosty” and listening to it. Why listening? Well, after we had tried to change the ice with flour and icing sugar we tried salt. The salt reacted with the ice and made it “crackle” and “pop”. We then put food colouring on so the children could see the patterns the salt had made and the fact that it was now “bumpy” and “lumpy” and not “smooth” and “shiny”. Afterwards we thought about the best place to put the ice to let it melt. Great fun was had by all.