The children ____ on ice in a few hours.

Answer: will be playing

Explanation: Use the future continuous tense to show an action that will be in progress at a specific time in the future. The phrase "in a few hours" points to such a future time.

Complete sentence: The children will be playing on ice in a few hours.

• "Will play" (simple future) — describes a future event but does not emphasize that the action will be ongoing at that future time; future continuous is more natural here.

• "Played" (past tense) — incorrect because it refers to the past, not to a time "in a few hours."

• "Plays" (present simple) — used for habits or timetables, not for describing an action that will be in progress at a specific future time.

Tip: Use lowercase "will be playing" within the sentence. The future continuous is the best choice when you want to say an action will be happening at a particular future time.