# Melting Hearts Art
> Set heart-shaped ice blocks on heavy watercolor paper, sprinkle them with salt, then drip liquid watercolors with pipettes. Kids watch the color travel through the cracks and tunnels as the hearts melt into colorful art. It's science, art and fine-motor practice rolled into one.
- URL: https://www.funlittles.com/science-experiments-for-kids-melting-hearts-art/
- Ages: 3–8 yrs · Difficulty: easy · Mess: high
- Time: prep 10 min, activity 30 min
- Works for: one-on-one, small group, whole class
- Skills: science, observation, fine-motor, color-mixing, sensory-exploration, art
- Cautions: ingestion-risk

## Materials (one batch)
- Heart-shaped ice blocks (water frozen in heart molds)
- Water (household)
- 1 piece Heart-shaped cups, cookie pans or containers
- Salt (household)
- 1 piece Bowl for the salt (household)
- Liquid watercolors
- 1 sheet Heavy watercolor paper
- 1 piece Pipettes or medicine droppers
- 1 piece Vinyl cloth or cheap plastic table cover
- 1 piece Tiny snack cup (optional) (household)

## Substitutions
- Instead of salt: Coarse salt or Epsom salt (Suggested by the author. We used table salt.)
- Instead of heart molds: Heart-shaped cookie pans or any heart-shaped container

## Safety
- Supervise closely. Salt and liquid watercolors are not food, and eating salt in quantity is harmful to young children.
- Keep salty hands away from eyes and any cuts, and wash hands after play.
- Liquid watercolors can stain hands, clothes and surfaces.
- Colored water drips off the paper. Cover the floor and wipe up puddles promptly so no one slips.
- Salted ice gets very cold. Let kids take breaks from handling it if their hands get uncomfortable.

## Before you start
- Fill heart cups, heart baking pans or other heart-shaped containers with water and freeze until solid.
- Optionally freeze water in a tiny snack cup to make an ice mound 'volcano'.

## Steps
1. Cover the floor (or the table and the floor under it) with a vinyl cloth or cheap table cover.
2. Pop the ice hearts out of the molds and set out salt, liquid watercolors and pipettes.
3. Place the ice hearts on a sheet of heavy watercolor paper.
4. Sprinkle salt from the bowl all over the ice hearts.
5. Watch for the little tunnels and cracks the salt makes as it melts the ice.
6. Use a pipette to drop liquid watercolor onto the ice and watch the color travel through the cracks.
7. Watch the hearts melt on the paper into colorful streams.
8. Move the hearts around the paper so it soaks up all the color.
9. Squish and handle the soft, salty ice hearts.
10. Lift off the leftover ice and admire the color-soaked watercolor paper.

## Tips
- It is best to do this on the floor covered with a vinyl cloth or a cheap table cover. On a table, cover your floor, or you'll get small colored puddles dripping off the watercolor paper.
- Any coarse salt or even Epsom salt should be great, but we just used table salt this time. The results were just as fabulous.
- Since we are color junkies, we kept moving the hearts all around the paper so it could soak up all the color.
- Expect it to turn into sensory play. The ice hearts got so squishy that it was plain fun to handle them.
- Look closely as it melts. The hearts soon look like a tiny crystal garden, with gorgeous little spikes.
- A chance happening: the center of one heart melted away faster than the edges, leaving a beautiful 'heart jewel'.
- Don't toss the paper! It soaks up all the color and makes lovely watercolor art on its own.

## The original post by TurkeyMom (2014)

Science should be fun and enticing, correct? Yes, fewer kids would have trouble enjoying science at college.. This melting hearts art is a colorful, vibrant, [**art activity**](https://www.funlittles.com/category/art-projects/) and a [**fine motor activity**](https://www.funlittles.com/category/fine-motor-activities/) rolled into one is actually one of the most popular [**science experiments for kids**](https://www.funlittles.com/category/science-2/). With a few simple materials you can set up this gorgeous artsy science activity. **Materials**

- Heart shaped ice blocks
- Salt
- **[Liquid Watercolors](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005V9W9RM/?tag=blmemo-20)**
- **[Watercolor Paper](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00251AIO0/?tag=blmemo-20)**
- Pipettes/ medicine droppers

For this science experiment, I froze water in one of my heart cups, you can use heart shaped cookie pans or any heart shaped container you have on hand.



We placed the ice hearts on heavy water color paper and I let the kids loose with a bowl full of salt. Any coarse salt or even Epsom salt should be great but we just used table alt this time. The results were just as fabulous.



Once the salt starts melting the ice, you can see the ice tunnels and cracks forming. Make those tunnels more beautiful by adding our favorite liquid watercolors. Using pipettes the children dropped ( sometimes squirted) water color on the ice and they were excited to see the color travel through the cracks in the ice.



We even made a little mound ice with a tiny snack cup. Turn it upside down you got yourself a pretend "volcano" in this case. I just love it when the children engage in [**imaginative play.**](https://www.funlittles.com/40-dramatic-play-ideas/)



The little hearts were made from the same baking pan we used for our "[**Fake chocolate sensory play**](https://www.funlittles.com/valentines-day-activities-making-playing-fake-chocolate/)"



The hearts start to melt on the paper creating a colorful stream. It is possible that this science experiment will turn into sensory play since the ice hearts became so squishy and it was plain fun to handle them.



This is supposed to be a "moss covered" ice.



The ice hearts soon start to look like a tiny crystal garden.



Since we are color junkies, we kept moving the hearts all around the paper so that the paper can soak up all the color.



Can you see those spikes on the hearts? They are so gorgeous. For grade schoolers, this activity can be a true science experiment where th children observe and identify changes while hypothesizing about what's really going on.



This was a chance happening. The center of the heart melted away faster than the edges leaving a beautiful "heart jewel"



This is our reality shot - our art table.



**Notes:**

It is best to do this science experiment on the floor covered with a vinyl cloth or a cheap table cover. If you want to do this on a table, cover your floor or else you will have small colored water puddle dripping from the watercolor paper.

So do you want to see the watercolor paper which soaked up all the color?



More [**science experiments**](https://www.funlittles.com/category/science-2/) on our category page

Thanks for reading!

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