Boredom buster: Giant ice block filled with gift cards
You’ve probably heard of toys inside ice, but this is a giant ice block filled with gift cards! It’s guaranteed to entertain all of your older kids and is the perfect summertime activity on a hot and sunny day. Check it out.
If your kids are anything like mine, they get pretty bored in the summertime. And since they’re not toddlers anymore, I have to get a little bit creative. So, I thought of this brilliant idea to spice up any lazy summer day. Check it out.
Gather your giant ice block supplies
The sky is the limit on these ice blocks, but I know that my kids are motivated by money. So, I thought throwing in some gift cards was just the ticket. Here’s what you’ll need:
- One large stock pot
- Water
- $5 Dollar Store or Amazon gift cards
- Toys (if desired)
- Forks
- Freezer
Make your ice block
Fill your stock pot halfway with water and then freeze it solid in a large freezer for a couple of days. Next, place all of your gift cards and/or toys on top of the ice and then fill the rest of the stock pot with water. Freeze again. You can repeat this step as many times as you like and get multiple layers. It’s whatever you want to do.
Start hacking away at the ice
Once your giant ice block is totally frozen, place the stock pot in a sink filled with hot or warm water. That will loosen the sides of the pot and the block with fall right out. Take the ice block outside on the grass or somewhere that you don’t mind gets wet.
I told my boys that there were two rules. First, they were only allowed to use a fork to chip away at the ice and second, they can’t drop it on the ground. With that, they were off to the races. I did not anticipate the amount of ice chips that would be flying through the air as they were hacking at the ice with their forks. So my boys quickly put on some swimming goggles and that helped a lot.
Since this was the first time we have tried this activity, it took a little longer than we thought. I eventually caved in and allowed my kids to drop the ice block onto the cement. That expedited things quite quickly. My kids were so excited when they finally got their Dollar Tree gifts cards.
Spend your gift cards
My kids were more than happy to spend each of their gift cards. I bought a $5 Dollar Tree gift card for each of them. They were so excited. It was a fun way to finish off the perfect summertime activity.
If I were to do this activity again, I would probably make four small blocks of ice instead of one giant ice block. That way each of my kids could work at their own pace. I was glad that we used forks. They are safer than a knife or a hammer. But you can use whatever you want.
What other summertime boredom busters do you like to do with your kids? Leave your comments below. Here’s some other fun ideas that you can do with your kids:
- Fun summer water activities with water
- Homemade sidewalk chalk paint
- 28 fun kids activities for the summertime
- The best giant bubble recipe
Related link: Beachball bucks: the perfect summertime motivation
