Confession: Don’t Break the Ice is one of those games that I can’t stand (along with Ker-plunk). It always turns into kids just banging on the dang thing and me having to put all the pieces back every 30 seconds.
Until now.
I came up with a way to slow the destruction AND learn as we go. I used dry erase marker on mine, wiped off fine with baby wipes. You could also use masking tape with Sharpie or Scotch Tape with Sharpie if you wanted to protect your game. I live on the edge, though. I wrote directly on mine with
Here are some fun ways to utilize this super fun kids game in your homeschool:
Letter Games- 4 ways to play
Label the ice with letters. There are 32 blocks to label, so there will be repeats (especially if you are only working with a few letters). For the letter prompt, you can use flashcards, letter tiles, letter magnets, or this printable….use whatever you have!
This can be done in any way that helps your learner:
- Label the ice with letters (capital or lowercase) and draw a flashcard (or printed/homemade card, or letter tile) and knock out the block containing that letter (Easiest: for letter recognition)
- Label in all Capital letters, then draw lowercase cards (See PRINTABLE or use flash cards you have). If they draw a lowercase t, they must find a capital T to knock out. If you are forced to knock out a block that makes the bear fall, you lose.
- Label blocks in Lowercase letters, then draw capital letters from flashcards, letter tiles, or PRINTABLE. Knock out the corresponding lowercase letter.
- Letter sounds. Parent draws a letter (from flashcard, letter tiles, or printed letters) and says the sound (without showing the letter). Child knocks out that letter on the gameboard.
Number Games- 4 ways to play
Label the ice with numbers (as stated in games below). Use dice or the numbers playing cards (remove face cards).
- Number Recognition (1-6) Label the ice with numbers 1-6 (repeat as much as needed). Roll a dice or pull a card from playing cards (numbers 1-6) and knock out the corresponding number. If using cards, you could do numbers 1-10.
- Addition or subtraction. Label the ice with numbers 0-12 and use dice (with dots or numbers) to roll on your turn. The player can choose to add or subtract and knock out that number’s ice. (ex: if you roll a 6 and 2, you can knock out 8 or 4 because 6+2=8 and 6-2=4).
- Multiplication. Label the ice with 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 16, 18, 20, 24, 25, 30, 36 (repeat as needed, especially 6 & 12). Roll the dice and find your product on the ice.
- Multiplication, specific number. Choose the number you are working on and label the ice with the multiple of that number up to x12. Roll the dice to determine what to multiply by (ex: working with multiples of 7. Rolled a 3 and 5, add those to make 8 and find the answer to 7×8. Find 56 on the ice and knock it out.)
The possibilities with this are endless, especially with preschoolers! Colors, shapes, emotions…they all could be used with this game!
I hope this inspires some fun learning sessions in your home! Happy Gaming!
Here are Printable Letter Cards if you need them (just download, print and cut!).
