Halloween was about developing ideas and making discoveries.
Ice, water and melting is a favourite science experiment and allows children to observe, predict, test, develop their own questions and understand the concept. Never more so than when they are allowed to explore on their on, supported by an adult, rather than led by the adult. If they are told what to do and the outcome, it can deter them from thinking creatively and critically.
Repeated throughout the week every child got a chance to see the experiment through from the beginning to the end. They prepared the moulds, thinking about water being able to be a liquid and a solid and the conditions needed to turn it to ice.
They made potions in their cauldrons and used them with pipettes to melt the ice.
Lots of problem solving was evident as children used spoons to break the ice, pipettes filled with their potions and the warmth from their hands. The large pumpkin bucket was also used to submerge the moulds in order to accelerate the melting proceed as they eagerly tried to free the spiders, skeletons, bats and skulls.
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