When I first started with the ice trays I used them for patterns. I let Dutch use the different colored bears to complete a pattern. I would start a pattern in the top row and then he would complete it. Then he would make a pattern for me and I would complete it for him. I think he really liked being the teacher.
Then I took different colored pom poms with Ellis and let her sort them in the ice tray according to colors. When we were talking about different aspects of fall, I let Ellis sort different fall items (e.g. acorns, bats, pumpkins, leaves, etc.) in ice trays according to shapes & textures (similar activity).
To practice numbers, I took a dry erase marker and wrote different numbers in the bottoms of the ice trays. Then, since we were talking about the letter P that week, I instructed Dutch to fill each compartment with the corresponding number of popcorn kernels. Later to work on fine motor skills, he had to do the same task but only using special tongs to move the popcorn kernels.
To practice letters, I turned the ice trays over so that they looked like teeth and gave Dutch a toothbrush (it was a new fresh one lol). I wrote letters on the bottoms of the trays with a dry erase marker. I would call out a letter and he has to "brush" off the letter I called out. Or I would say the sound a letter makes and he had to brush off that letter ("What letter makes the tah-tah-tah sound?" and he would brush the letter T off the ice trays.)
I was at Hobby Lobby a couple weeks ago and I picked up a few new manipulatives to use with our tongs & ice trays for Christmas. We will be using these to do patterns (mitten, tree, mitten, tree, etc.), color & letter identification (for example put a green jingle bell on the letter U), counting (put 2 red jingle bells on the 2), and then of course fine motor skills.
