It’s one of the simplest forms of nature around. It’s colorless, tasteless, inexpensive, and MAGICAL for little ones! WATER!
And, there are so many things you can do with it: freeze it, melt it, shoot it, pour it… the possibilities are endless. Sometimes at the preschool, we freeze water in different containers and let the children experiment with it. What does salt do to ice? How about if we spray water on?
Sometimes we add some liquid water color or food coloring and allow the children to drop colors onto a coffee filter. It’s fun to watch what the colors do as they absorb.
For “Water Day” at summer camp, we left buckets of soapy water and sponges by the tricycles. The children needed no instruction, they knew exactly what to do!
Water shooters aimed at pie pans? Yes, please! And it was such great exercise for their arms and coordination as they filled the shooters with water, aimed and then shot the water toward the pan!
And, I loved watching the children experiment with the water wall! There are lots of great tutorials and adaptations of a water wall if you do a quick search on pinterest.
Or try these ideas:
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For little ones, simply putting a bunch of water in a plastic tub is enough to keep them busy. Add some toys or sponges. Squeezing sponges is excellent exercise for the hand muscles!
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Try freezing small toys in containers and then let your children figure out ways to break the ice or melt it and get to the toys!
- Slip and slides are fun and inexpensive. Last year, we added a little shaving cream fun while slipping and sliding. My girls love covering themselves with the shaving cream and it added a little bit of slip too! Plus , they smelled great after!
- Have you seen the water blob? So fun! I have yet to make one but have friends who have and said it was a blast!
- A bucket of water and a simple paint brush… let the kids paint the driveway!
- Also great for fine motor and hand strengthening is spray bottles! They cost $1 at the store and kids love them.
Other ideas? Please share!
Aldersgate Preschool 