Water play activities are fun, inexpensive and easy to set up. Water play promotes children’s sensory development, enhances their motor skills, fosters creativity and problem solving, and introduces them to mathematical and science concepts such as volume, float/sink and measurement.
Here are some fun water play activities that can be easily set up at home.
- Create a water table Fill a large container or plastic tub with water and place it on a child-height table. Add items to spark imaginative and explorative play, for example cups, scoops, funnels, floating objects, toy animal figures. Children can experiment with pouring, splashing, and exploring water movement.
- Ice cube play Freeze small toys or natural objects inside ice cubes and encourage your child to melt the ice using warm water, droppers, or their hands. This activity encourages children to develop patience and introduces them to early science concepts.
- Water painting Provide children with paintbrushes and buckets of water, or spray bottles filled with water, to “paint” sidewalks, fences, walls or anything else that is water resistant. Children can get creative while strengthening their fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. They will also learn about the scientific concept of evaporation as their creations dry and disappear.
- Sink or float experiment Gather various household items and ask your child to guess whether they will sink or float before testing them in a tub of water. This encourages children’s ability to hypothesise and develops their observation skills.
- Boat races Make ‘boats’ using items such bottle caps, plastic containers, folded paper, or corks and race them across a water play table. This promotes creativity and problem-solving. Adding a sail to the boats will enhance the creative aspect of this activity and introduce science concepts such as wind and movement.
- Water balloon games Games such as catch and toss, and dodgeball can be played with water balloons instead of regular balls or water balloons can be used for pinata games. These activities are great for strengthening children’s gross motor skills and strength.
- Washing station Set up a washing station with soapy water, sponges, and cloths. Children can wash their toys, dolls, doll’s clothes, household or home play items. This supports fine motor and sensory development and promotes pretend play.
- Mud kitchen Add natural materials such leaves, flowers, sand, dirt, rocks, and seedpods to water table activities, along with scoops, containers and stirring implements for children to ‘cook’ up a treat. This supports children’s sensory and motor development, enhances their connection with nature, and encourages pretend play.
- Sponge play Soak large sponges, such as car washing sponges, in buckets of water and use them for toss and catch or ‘hit the bullseye’ games. These activities are not only good for children’s gross motor development, but they also encourage their social skills development as they take turns and negotiate game rules.
Water play offers so many opportunities for children to explore, learn and develop as they experiment and have fun, and it is also a fun shared play experience for children and their parents or carers.
Contact Us
If you have any questions or would like more information, please email us at childrensservices@theinfantshome.org.au.