Frazil ice

Okay kiddo, have you ever made homemade ice cream using a machine that spins and freezes the ingredients together? Well, when it's really cold outside and the water in a river or lake starts to freeze, something similar starts happening, but instead of a machine, it's the cold air doing the work.

As the temperature drops, tiny bits of ice start to form in the water, kind of like little ice crystals. These ice crystals are called "frazil ice." Just like how you can see the mixing bowl getting colder and colder as you make ice cream, the water temperature is also dropping as frazil ice forms.

Frazil ice is made up of tiny, slushy particles that float in the water, like tiny icebergs. They are so small that you can't really see them unless you look really closely, like using a microscope. They can also make the water look really cloudy and murky.

When there's a lot of frazil ice in a river or lake, it can make it hard for boats or ships to travel through. They might get stuck or have trouble navigating through the slushy water.

So, there you have it, frazil ice is just tiny bits of slushy ice that form in cold water and can make it hard for boats to travel through.