Ice cool Sheffield dad shares brilliant way he's keeping sons entertained during coronavirus lockdown

Duncan Gillespie, 38, popped his boys’ treasured possessions in the freezer overnight before letting his sons try to free them.

Jem, five, and Bram, three, spent more than an hour on Tuesday hacking away at the blocks of ice with only a spoon each to help them.

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Duncan said: “I was quite chuffed with myself because I set them up in the garden, came back inside, made myself a bacon sandwich and sat down.”

He was able to do some work as a researcher at his computer while watching them tackle the tricky ice cubes.

Duncan had trapped his sons’ ‘favourite toys at the moment’ in the bricks - a triceratops, a shark bath toy, a tiny T-rex, a dolphin and a small plastic lizard.

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He put the plastic items in small tupperware boxes filled with water before slotting them into his freezer.

He said: “They loved it. It was quite fun to watch them come up with strategies.

“As I was out there I could see them saying ‘what happens if we push it down the slide’, ‘what happens if we drop it’. They were trying all sorts of things.

“They’re both very creative boys so it was just kind of fuel for their creativity. I think that’s why they played with it for so long.”

Jem and Bram had to move inside when it started raining and quickly discovered their dad’s boots were the perfect tool for smashing the ice to release their toys.

Duncan said: “I had given them spoons because I just thought - what’s the hardest thing to give them to string it out for as long as possible.

“I reckon it took them about 90 minutes to complete the full rescue.

“They were happy, that’s the main thing. They were really engaged so it was a win win for everybody.”

Duncan has been working from home and looking after the boys while his wife, Bex, has been busy running a zero waste food business in Sheffield.