Ice Cream Themed Hot/Cold Sorting Mat

To go along with her Preschool/Toddler Ice Cream Unit, Maureen of Spell Outloud created this adorable hot and cold printable sorting activity. Perfect for a hot summer day, consider printing the sorting mat and object cards onto card stock and laminating them to hold up to the wear and tear.

Science Center Fun

• Start off with a hands on exploration of hot and cold items. Maureen suggests ice cubes and warm mugs - you could also use gel hot and cold packs, one frozen and the other made warm in the microwave.
• Talk about safety issues as related to both temperature extremes {why we should dress properly in the winter, why we should always be careful when cooking/taking things out of the microwave, etc.}
• Invite your kiddos to brainstorm things that are cold/hot.
• Provide your students with the hot/cold sorting exercise. If you want more cards to sort, consider making your own to add to the set or print a set of cards from this activity at FileFolderFun.com.
• Talk to your kiddos about the concept of opposites. Invite them to create a list of opposites - tall/short, narrow/wide, big/small, etc. - perhaps even illustrating some of the concepts.

Be sure to visit Maureen's blog for these fun printables and other ice cream themed activities that are certain to fit perfectly with your summer lesson plans!