Salt Ice Sculptures

These incredible salt-ice sculptures combine science, art and a big dose of fun! Simply take a large block of ice, salt and watered down paint – and combine! The salt and paint make the ice melt with interesting caves and crevasses which act as tunnels and lakes for the paint. The effect is stunning.

Project Info

Materials

• Large plate, tray or cookie sheet
• droppers
• food coloring, liquid watercolors or watered down poster paint
• medium size plastic containers, various sizes
• table salt

Instructions

1. Take your plastic containers and fill with water. Place in the freezer until frozen
2. Remove your ice blocks from the containers (you may need to run them under hot water to loosen the ice). Place on a large plate, plastic tray or cookie sheet.
3. Add the salt to the ice - by sprinkling or pouring. The salt will begin to melt the ice when it comes in contact with the ice. Large piles of salt will quickly create large crevasses and caves in the ice. Add drops of food coloring to the sculpture – these will help to highlight the shapes being formed in the ice by the salt.
4. Continue adding salt and color until your creation is complete

Tips

1. Science Tip: Did you know: Salt melts ice at a lower temperature. That is why it quickly produces holes in the ice when it is sprinkled or poured over!
2. Science Tip: If you use red coloring, you might be lucky and experience iridescence – irridescene is where the color of something changes depending on the angle you look at it – just like on the wings of a dragonfly or beetle. It will appear as a green shimmer.
3. You can use other types of salt too – why not experiment and see if different types of salt cause the ice to melt in different ways
4. Caution: Food Coloring will stain clothing and work surfaces.

Reviews

Useful supplies

- our picks from Amazon for this project:

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