Did you know you can make your own delicious ice slush drink without the help of a freezer or a blender? My kids think it so fun to make their own slushy at home 🙂 This is the ideal kitchen science experiment to do on a hot summer day when all you want to eat is something freezing cold and delicious. With lots of those days up ahead, we hope you really enjoy this tasty slushy science!
I was inspired to make this ice slush in a bag by an activity I found in one of our favorite science experiment books, 50 Science Things to Make & Do. I love this book because it contains tons of simple science ideas with easy-to-follow instructions. Even my four-year-old can do many of the experiments on his own 🙂
Making Ice Slush
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We headed into the kitchen to gather the following supplies:
- One small Ziploc baggie (quart or sandwich size)
- One cup of fruit Juice (any variety should work just fine)
- One gallon-size Ziploc bag
- 6-8 cups ice cubes
- 6 Tbsp. Salt
Once we had our supplies ready we followed the instructions below to make delicious fruity ice slush. It is basically the same process as making frosty homemade ice cream!
- Carefully measure fruit juice into the small Ziploc baggie. Squeeze out excess air and zip up the baggie securely.
- Add ice and salt to the bigger baggie.
- Place the small bag into the large bag with ice and salt. Seal the large bag.
- Shake for 5-10 minutes, until the fruit juice has frozen into icy slushy goodness.
- This is the tricky part: Open up the large bag, remove the small bag and rinse it off quickly in cold water (pay special attention to rinse off the opening). You don’t want any of the salt water getting into your sweet fruit slushy!
- Eat and enjoy!
The Science of Making Ice Slush
Our Fishing for Ice experiment and Easy Homemade Ice Cream involve the same science that makes the fruit drink in this experiment turn from liquid to solid without the aid of a freezer.
When salt is added to ice it lowers the freezing point, making the salty icy mixture colder than ice alone. If you have a thermometer you can verify this fact. Pure water freezes at 32°F, but when salt is added to ice the mixture gets down to around 0°F. This is cold enough to freeze juice! Stirring the juice frequently ensures that the frozen parts mix with the liquidy parts, making a yummy slushy mix. If you leave your juice long enough it will freeze solid!
July 4th Slime Science | Summer STEAM from Little Bins for Little Hands
Hi! Is it just me or the link up buttons missing?
This looks so easy and so fun! A perfect science experiment for summer! Thanks for sharing! 🙂 ~Bethany @sciencekiddo.com Math Geek Mama
Thanks for stopping by!
Crystal,
I found your blog and I just love it! I am a former chemical engineer ( I absolutely loved organic chemistry) and I’m currently blogging at http://www.shelovesscience.com! My main mission is to inspire my daughter to love science and in the process found that I’ve re-discovered my fascination with science and writing too!
I would love to start joining your linky parties and meet more science blogging friends!
Tracy
I am so happy to connect with you! I started my blog to help me stay connected to science and to inspire my kids as well 🙂 Glad to have you along.
Hi! I’m in Year 6 and whenever my teacher says its Science Time, I always groan. I used to find Science really hard but now that I’ve started ready your amazing science experiments and ideas, I am starting to like it even more. My teacher once was stuck for an edible experiment to do, so I told him this recipe and told him about how great you’re blog was. Now he uses it alot and we made these slushies at school! It tasted great! Thank you for making Science so fun for me!
This made my day to read, thank you so much for taking the time to write 🙂 Science should be fun! Keep up the good work.
This blog really helped me think of something to do for my school science fair and am very glad i came across this page so thanks Crystal.
So glad to hear it! Thanks for stopping by.
A perfect science experiment for summer!