Sumer is here and kids LOVE water activities in the warmer weather. Head outside and try some of these hands on, sensory play ideas! Getting some large bins will be useful for many of these activities. Under the bed storage bins are usually a great option. Click on the title of any activity below to be linked to more detailed directions.
Soap and Sponges
Grab 2 bins and add water to both. In one bin place some sponges, silicone muffin cups (linked here), and other little water safe trinkets. In the other bin, squirt in some mild soap to make bubbles. Let your kids play and explore with the 2 bins.
"Rescue" the Bears
This one is always a hit! Place plastic colored bears (linked here), or other small toys in an ice cube tray with water. Freeze until solid. Pop put the ice cubes and put them in an empty bin. Give your child warm water in a spray bottle or little bowl with droppers. Have them try and get the water to melt to "rescue" the bears. This is great for fine motor skills!
Paint the Ice
It's as easy as it sounds! Dump ice cubes into an empty bin and give your child water color paints to use to paint the ice!
Pouring Station
Take two bins and fill one with water. Add some pitchers, scoopers, etc into the water. In the empty bin, add cups and bowls that your child can pour the water into. They can go back and forth between the two bins scooping and pouring.
Name Splash by @entertainmytoddler
This cute idea was shared on Instagram by @entertainmytoddler. FIll up a bunch of water balloons and place them in an empty water table (a bucket would be fine too). Then, use chalk to write your child's name on the ground. Have them use the water balloons to throw and splash their name. You could even call out a certain letter and have them just try and splash that one.
Color Mixing
Place a bunch of cups and bowls of water in an empty plastic bin. Add some different color drops of food coloring into some of the cups. A little goes a long way, so just a couple drops will be plenty and help prevent staining. Give your child some droppers to use to mix colors and do some experimenting!
Sidewalk Painting
This is so simple to prep and is a great reset for a grumpy afternoon. Head outside with a paintbrush and cup of water. Have your child paint their name, pictures, etc on the sidewalk. After a few minutes it will disappear and they can paint something new. Another easy variation of this is painting colored construction paper. Be sure to use a thin brush so they don't soak and rip the paper.
Muffin Cup Boats
This one can be done outside or even in the bathtub. Take silicone muffin cups (linked here) to use as "boats" and put little plastic bears in them to see how many you can get to float before the boats sink. Or your kids can just free play with the supplies. You can use other plastic figurines but if you don't have colored plastic bears you should really consider getting them! (Bears linked here). They are relatively inexpensive and have so many fun ways to use them.
Sponge Boats
Fill a bin with water and add sponges, silicone muffin cups, little drink umbrellas (these can be sharp so only use with adult supervision), and any other water safe trinkets you want. Let your kids play and explore however they wish. They can use the umbrellas poked into the sponges to make little "boats" or balance trinkets in the muffin cups.
Coin Hunt by @chasing50toes
This super creative idea was shared on Instagram by @chasing50toes. Fill up your water table with water and add a bunch of coins. Label paper cups with different amounts like 10, 6, etc and have your child count that many coins to put in the cup. For an added challenge for older kids, write money amounts on the cups and they have to find the right coins to make those amounts. For example, if you wrote $1.05 on a cup they could put in 4 quarters and a nickel. Coins can be a choking hazard, this would be best saved for kids who are a bit older and under direct supervision of an adult.
Mystery Water
This is a fun one even when it's not Halloween! Fill two bins with water. Add a little bit of black food coloring to one bin and toss some little figurines into the black water. Add some spoons or scoops and have your kids scoop out all of the trinkets from the mystery water!
Have fun splashing and playing!!
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