We have been talking the last few classes about animals in the winter. The children have been introduced to the words and meanings “hibernate” (most familiar with this one), “migrate” and “adapt”. We have also been categorizing a variety of animals under each heading. This lead us to talking about the animals that live where it is really cold, “like the north pole” a few said! and how they keep warm especially when they swim in icy water!!
So I decided to try this experiment that showed up on my Pinterest feed…
I filled a bowl full of ice and water and we each took turns putting a hand in the icy water. We counted to 10 to see if we could keep it in that long. The children made it no problem (I did too but was hard, SO COLD)! lol Some of the comments were “it’s so cold”, “my hand started to hurt” and “I don’t want to swim in that water”.
We then took turns sticking our hands in a plastic bag surrounded by fat (Crisco) in the icy water. The children all said “It’s warm!”!
I explained that this is how Arctic animals such as penguins, polar bears and seals can swim when the water is icy cold and they don’t freeze!

So much fun…try it!!!