Tip #7: Ice Cube Game

Suitable for children from 12 years old

The summer heat can make us want to be active or paralyze us. It's the perfect time to stop and get a little wet with water from a melting ice cube. The game develops mindfulness and attention to one's own body in children, adolescents and adults.

Holding an ice cube in the hand is often used in dialectical behavior therapy as an effective exercise in tolerating discomfort. Rather than reacting impulsively to the stinging cold (or to a stressful event or emotion), the goal is to shift attention to the discomfort, tolerating it rather than suppressing it, and noticing how the discomfort subsides after a while. This exercise uses the ice cube to teach touch awareness and increase frustration tolerance. Children and adolescents enjoy holding the ice, noticing how it stings, feeling it melt and start to drip. In the process, they increase tolerance and practice mindful touching.

How to do it step by step

Give each child a napkin and a cup with an ice cube. Encourage children to hold the ice for as long as they can, but create an accepting, friendly environment for those who need to put the ice back in the cup. Encourage them to try. Be careful and avoid injury by supervising children so that they do not hold the ice cube for more than a minute or two.

Game scenario guide

Focus on your hand. Just notice how it feels. Is it warm, cold, hot, sticky, wet, dry, comfortable, or uncomfortable?

Now look at the ice cube in the cup, then reach into the cup, take it out, and hold it in your hand.

Notice the sensations in your hand as you hold an ice cube. Place the ice cube in your palm and close your fingers.

If it's too uncomfortable, that's okay. Just put the ice back in the cup. Once your hand warms up again, take the ice out again.

Notice what happens when you hold an ice cube. Is it cold? Does it sting? Does it burn? Does it melt? Does it drip?

Have you noticed any sensations in other parts of your body? Does your body feel pleasant, neutral, or unpleasant?

What happens after a while? Has your hand gone numb? Can you still feel the ice?

Put ice in a cup and warm your hand for a while.

Take the ice again, this time the goal is to not react physically or mentally to the unpleasant feeling the ice causes. See if you can hold it in longer this time.

After holding the ice for a minute or two at most, return it to the cup.

Feedback

After the practical part, take a few minutes to reflect. Ask the children how they felt while holding the ice. Did they give up and put the ice back in the cup? Did they hold the ice but feel stupid or embarrassed because it was very uncomfortable? Did they feel successful when they managed to hold the ice cube? Did they notice any changes in their experience? Did their hand feel numb? Did it get easier to hold the ice after a while? How did they cope with being wet when the ice started to melt?

Source: Mindfulness in Children and Adolescents, Debra Budrick (Grada, 2019)

Author: Veronika Veselá