My son is in kindergarten and has been given a homework project...making an ice sculpture (...with the 'help of a parent') Why do I get the feeling that this is more homework for the parents than it is for the child? I have no idea how to make an ice sculpture! Anyway so I thought maybe we could fill my Nordicware 3D cupcake cake tin with water, freeze it, then try and unmold it (somehow!) and assemble into a giant ice cupcake. (A bit of a cheat, and not the least bit creative, I know! ) My concern is that I might crack/damage the cake tin doing it. Does anyone know if Nordicware pans can be frozen?...when filled with water? Please, please tell me it'll be fine, I don't know what else I'll (...I mean "we'll") make otherwise!

How about a cheap silicone pan instead? Those work well for ice because you can peel them off of the ice.

I'm not sure how you'd ever get the ice out of the cupcake pan, and those Nordicware pans are expensive enough that you probably shouldn't risk damaging it.

I agree with using silicone. It would peel right off and a lot of ice trays are made with silicone now as well. It is creative to use the pan though but getting it out may prove to be a challenge.

I'd think that a cake pan is just a giant metal ice cube tray.

I'd fill it up about 7/8ths of the way & have at it. You may have to sit it in warm water for a few seconds to get the piece out easily.

That said, that is the dumbest kindergarten project I've ever heard of

Just how is this supposed to make it to the school in any sort of decent shape? I know my minivan isn't REFRIGERATED.

Another option would be to take ice cubes and "glue" them together using water. Work a bit, freeze, work a bit, freeze. You can change the shape of the ice cubes by running them over warm water. You could even use colored water................

Rae

Well it's winter here at the moment, so getting it to school without melting shouldn't be TOO difficult. I went to get my nordicware cupcake pan out and discovered that I still had the packaging that came with it...kind of a thin plastic version of the pan itself that they sell it with so the pan's surface can't get damaged in the store. By itself the plastic is not strong enough, so we used it inside the tin. I'm thinking that the ice will be much easier to pop out from that, if I have to rip it to get it out then so be it. It also creates a little gap between the ice and the actual pan, so when the ice expands it hopefully wont damage the pan.

Your suggestion of building with ice cubes is a good one Rae...then the kids can actually get creative - maybe that's what the teacher means when she says 'ice sculpture'? - I have no idea. The instructions were just 'make and ice sculpture with the help of a parent and bring it to school' - pretty vauge.

I figured I had at least a couple more years before I'd be stressing over my child's homework - apparently I was mistaken, LOL.