25 Fun Water Play
Activity Games for your Toddler

Sand play and water play - don't they always go together in people's minds? But hey, I don't recommend you actually having them available to your toddler to play with at the same time very often! You will get sand in the water and water in the sand! Muddy water and sloppy sand take a lot of separating.

The most obvious one is in the bath, and this happens most days. You will no doubt have a few toys that you keep in the bathroom for bath-time fun. Why not rotate a few items to vary the play. Below are some suggestions that we have found most enjoyable and we think are clever toddler activities.

The paddling pool is one of the most popular outdoor activities for kids on a hot day. But your toddler can play with water as an indoor activity in the kitchen too. You will need a washing up bowl on the floor or how about the versatile cat litter tray? Not the one that your cat uses of course, but a new one from the hardware store. This is great for shallow water activities.

Your toddler could also stand on something stable and use the kitchen sink for water play, although it might be difficult for him to reach the bottom of the bowl. The recepticle that creates the least mess is the commercial water play tray on legs, because they are at your toddler's correct height. However these have a tendency to walk around the place when leaned on by an enthusiastic child.

Parenting tip for your toddler: We recommend that you don't cover up your toddler in a plastic apron for water play. This is uncomfortable for her and you will have to change her clothes anyway, so why not just strip her down to her nappy (diaper)? If her feet are getting cold she could wear her wellies. If it is too cold for her to have a bare chest then let her just wear a T shirt and change that at the end of the activity.

Oh, and I know I don't need to say this but I will anyway. Never leave your toddler on his own when playing with water. He could drown in a few inches in a few minutes!

* Bubbles - lots of them. Give him a hand whisk so he can make more. This is such a fun activity game for your toddler.
* Sponges of different sizes and densities make loads of bubbles when squeezed. Why not invest in a natural (once living) sponge?
* Fill plastic pots of different sizes and shapes with bubbles.
* Give a wooden spoon so he can reduce the bubble foam to water again by stirring.
* Give a spoon and let him spoon the bubbles into shallow dishes, a patty pan or muffin pan.
* Have a bubble machine or simple bubble wand for him to catch the bubbles. (Be careful of the slippery floor!) This is safest as an outdoor activity for kids on the grass.



Water - so much you can do with it!
Use everyday items to help your toddler explore capacity and help his hand-eye co-ordination.

Parenting Tip for your Toddler: Put old towels on the floor under your toddler's feet. This will prevent him slipping and also aid cleaning up.

* Have water play with different sized plastic pots and jugs. Wash out pots and bottles that once had food in. This makes a free toddler game with your home made toys - easy. He will love pouring water from one container to another. Funnels make it easier to fill the bottles.
* Empty shampoo and washing up bottles with lids on so he can work out how to get the water in the bottles by squeezing it and letting go, then have fun squirting the water out. This is another free game for your learning toddler.
* A jug for filling an ice cube tray is very gentle and concentrated water play.
* A plastic pipette or syringe for filling an ice cube tray too. This is an excellent activity for hand-eye co-ordination and the use of a pipette strengthens the pincer grip that is needed for holding that pencil for writing. The best educational kids toys are often the simple things that you don't find in toy shops.
* Pots and sieves of different sizes - like tea strainers and colanders. Let him work out why these cannot get filled with water.
* Spoons, scoops and ladles of different sizes and shallow dishes will encourage a different kind of water play. Use whatever you already have in the kitchen and this becomes a free toddler game.
* Colour the water with food colouring for a change and let him see the water levels more clearly.
* As a special treat put a little glitter in the water. Give your toddler something to stir with and let him see the wonderful patterns he can make. Beware, the glitter gets everywhere so you will be seeing it around the house for a few weeks! :-)

Parenting Tip for your Toddler: Be sparing with the food colouring as this stains both skin and clothes if it is too concentrated.

Now, how about exploring the imagination using small world toys? Or pretending to be mum or dad and washing stuff. Find little toys that can go in the water a few at a time such as:

* Boats and play people. Sealed empty milk bottles can be islands.
* Plastic fish and other marine life.
* Dolls clothes and other cloths for washing. If you do this outside in fine weather your toddler can peg out the clothes on a 'washing line' fixed at her height. Using pegs is also wonderful to practice that pincer grip which needs to be developed before she embarks on any writing activity.
* Toy cups and saucers etc for washing up with a sponge.
* Any toy that needs a wash can go into the water for a scrub. Your toddler will enjoy doing this important work. He can use a washing up sponge or a nail brush.
* Dolls for washing and pretend swimming. This water play need not be confined to girls alone. Boys enjoy doing this too!

Parenting Tip for your Toddler: Be aware that bubble bath fluids ruin dolls plastic hair so only use dolls with no hair or have certain dolls designated for the bath. My girls' Barbie was ruined - it felt horrible to touch - after a hair washing session in the bath one day.

Now let's explore floating and sinking

* Wooden bricks and corks - they bob around. What fun!
* Foam plastic shapes and letters. These float around and can be stuck onto the tiled wall and side of the bath.
* Natural materials such as sticks, bark, leaves and pebbles. Have the items in a basket or bowl and let her put them into the water one at a time. Ask her to predict which will sink and which will float once she has the idea of what those words mean. Children's educational toys are all around if we just open our eyes to the free toddler games provided by nature.

And now for something a little odd:

* Give your toddler a dry loofah or a dry natural sponge to play with in the water. Let him see how it softens. An old and well-used loofah works better than a new one because it goes softer when wet.
* Give her some dried seaweed. If you don't live near the sea, you can buy different types in a good supermarket or health food shop. Let her feel the dry stuff. See how brittle it is. Now let her play with it in the water. After she has finished the play put it to dry again and let her see and feel the change once more.

Water play is one of the traditional and free great child care activities, whether at home or outdoors. As you can see it is a fun toddler activity and you can join in or just watch. Your toddler will enjoy it either way.

Had fun with the water? Are you ready for some sand play?

Swim from Water Play to Preschool Science