We took advantage of the colder weather to do some ice crafting recently. This craft activity is fantastic as it is relatively simple but there are multiple steps that help keep kids busy and engaged.

You can collect materials from your own garden but we went out to the local park. Walking the same local area has become a little boring so snapping up natural treasures for our activity certainly added a little more excitement to our daily walks. We collected different leaves, safe berries and a few late blooming flowers on our journey. 

We had planned to make an ice lantern but as we were letting it freeze outside, we got a bit impatient and it ended up being an ice wreath. Watching it melt was also a source of great excitement. We don't get out much these days!

If you have the patience or room in your freezer, the ice lanterns are super cute with a little tea light candle to illuminate the garden. Of course, please make sure that the open flames are placed in a safe environment. 

What you need

Small - medium mixing bowl, small glass, materials from the garden, edible glitter, ribbon for the wreath, tealight candle.

Method

1. Go into the garden or local park and collect leaves, safe berries or flowers
2. Take a medium size rounded dish and place your glass in the middle
3. Fill with water about halfway up the glass
4. Place the berries and flowers into the water
5. You can now add some glitter. If you are planning to melt it in your garden, its best to use edible glitter as it will be better for your plants or grass than standard glitter. 
6. Now you can place outside on a really cold night to freeze. If its not cold enough, you can place in the freezer.
7. If you want to create a wreath, make sure it doesn't freeze all the way to the bottom or if it has, let it melt slightly so that when you remove the glass you have a clear hole to thread your ribbon through. You can now place on your door or on a fence post to watch it glisten and melt.
8. If you want to create a lantern, its best to let it freeze a bit then slightly raise the glass to create a base to freeze for your tealight candle to sit on. continue to let it freeze completely. Carefully remove the glass and set aside. Next up, remove the lantern from the bowl. If you need a bit of help removing it, just run warm water over the base to lessen the grip. Now you can place in a fire safe place outside and light your candles.