Cool Summer fun: Draw on the driveway with ice

Suzy's tip has all the elements of a great summertime hack: it's cool, it's wet, it's environmentally responsible, it's easy, it's fun and it's free:

My kids love to water the driveway and watch the water evaporate, but I hate to waste the water. Our solution?  Ice painting!  We get a large bucket of ice, and draw with the cubes like chalk.  They love writing with ice, and watching the letters and pictures quickly disappear.

Another idea: fill a bucket with water and let the kids "paint the house" with a clean paintbrush or sponge.

What's your favorite summertime water-play activity that doesn't involve thousands of gallons down the drain?

Related: Spray bottle makes cool (and water-saving) fun during the summer

Comments

[Sonia]

Water the flowers but put the water in a bucket first.

[Mrs. Mordecai]

My son has been building igloos with ice cubes lately—or at least trying to. Whatever keeps him busy!

[shannon]

we are going to freeze some little dinosaurs in cups of ice and then they get to smash them with hammers and pick away at the ice to get to the dinosaur.

[Teresa]

I am missing how this doesn't waste water.

[Carol - The Lazy Mama]

Great idea! My kid is going to love this. He enjoys anything with water in it.

[chris]

We love playing car wash. Each kid gets a small bucket of water and a rag. They "wash" the trikes, cozy coupes, and swingset. Not much water and lots of fun.

We also occasionally fill balloons with water (sometimes with food coloring) and put them in the freezer. You need to lay a piece of newspaper underneath because the balloons tend to attach to what they touch. When ready to play, you pop off the balloon and it becomes a grapefruit sized ball of ice. They're so irresistibly smooth and as they melt get very slippery and hard to hold. My daughter calls them her babies and totes them around.

[Valentina@baby quilts]

Bubbles, we all love making them, chasing them, landing them on each other and competing for the bigger and the better one. Even our dog joins in the fun - a big crowd of happy and very wet family!