1. Ask your child to think about water activities we do when it's cold and warm or hot. When can you swim? When can you go sledding? When can you build a snowman? When can you go fishing? Connect these activities to the weather and vocabulary words about states of matter (“We can’t go fishing because the water in the lake has turned to ice! What is something we can do instead when it’s cold?”)
2. Check the weather forecast together and talk about the temperature. Ask your child what would happen if you took a piece of ice from your freezer and set it outside your door. Would it melt or stay frozen?
3. Use bath time to conduct investigations about different objects and whether or not they sink or float when placed in the tub. Ask your child to predict what they think will happen, then test each item, and talk about whether or not what happened matched with their prediction. You can then sort the items into piles - one for things that float and one for things that sink and then count how many of each. Are there more things that sink or float?"

With younger children, use a weather chart to record precipitation, temperature, and cloud cover. Make a prediction about what the weather might be tomorrow. Then make and record observations about the weather — did it match your prediction? You can also use a calendar or weather chart to talk about patterns you see in the weather by recording and counting the number of cold days in a week or sunny days in the month. Create the look of snowfall with a homemade glitter snow globe, and use your freezer to observe how liquids freeze over time.

With older children, show them how you can use a tool, a thermometer to measure the temperature in different areas of your home, like next to the windows or next to a vent or radiator or even in the freezer. Would a piece of solid ice melt faster in some environments in your home than others? Why? Have them predict what might happen if you put a little sugar or salt or other pantry item on the ice cube? Have your child record their observations. Then, investigate how very hot and cold temperatures can turn other household items into solids or liquids, and back again!