15 Simple Ways To Play With Water For Kids

Water on a hot summer's days is all your little tots need to stay engaged for hours. Add in a few balls and you've got endless entertainment. 

--WHAT YOU'LL NEED-- 
Play pool 
Bag of balls 
Water 

--STEP 1-- 
Fill the play pool with some water and plastic balls 

--STEP 2-- 
Enjoy hours of play 

Image/activity credit: http://www.learnplayimagine.com/

Talk about two birds with one stone. Have your kids play with all the water and soap they want, all while washing dishes! 

--WHAT YOU'LL NEED-- 
Kitchen sink 
Dish washing soap 
Dish brush/sponge 

--STEP 1-- 
 Put a small amount of warm soapy water in the bottom of the sink. You don’t need much water, a centimetre or two in the bottom of the sink is enough, and less water means less mess. 

--STEP 2-- 
Add some non-breakable cutlery or crockery. Dress your little one in an apron. 

--STEP 3-- 
Pass your child the dish brush and watch as they wash, stack and dry their dishes for hours and hours. 

Image/activity credit: www.picklebums.com

If your child loves dinosaurs, this Dino Ice Dig activity is going to be a huge hit! It’s easy to set up and will have your child melting ice with salt and water to free toy dinosaurs and other treasures from a frozen block of ice. Science, water play, and fine motor development are all wrapped up in one in this fun, icy activity! 

--WHAT YOU'LL NEED-- 
Toy dinosaurs 
Stones (optional) 
Shells (optional) 
Plastic crystals 
Large container 
Salt (colored with a few drops of blue food coloring) 
A shaker container for the salt 
Spoons Syringes 
Tweezers 
Bowl of hot water 

--STEP 1-- 
In a large container, freeze your ice block in layers, over the course of a couple of days, adding a few items to the water, placing the container in the freezer, and repeating with another layer when the previous one is frozen.

--STEP 2-- 
When your ice block is ready, pour a little hot water over the container and wait till the block slips out. Then set up a space for "digging" either out in your garden, bathtub or dining table. If setting up in your living room, cover your table with towels. 

--STEP 3-- 
Start out by getting your kids to sprinkle some of the colourful salt all over the ice block. This kickstarts the melting process. 

--STEP 4-- 
Use spoons or syringes to pour hot water over the ice, and get digging with your spoons. 

--STEP 5-- 
As the ice block gets smaller and smaller, help your kids break off chunks of ice and free the different treasures.

A fun and simple way to practice your kiddies' fine motor skills. 

--WHAT YOU'LL NEED-- 
Cups and bowls of different sizes 
Spoons and scoops 
Eye droppers 

--STEP 1-- 
Set up the cups and bowls on a table covered with a towel. If you've got a garden, you can even set this up outside during the cooler part of the day. 

--STEP 2-- 
Drop food coloring to each container and stir. 

--STEP 3-- 
Hand your kids spoons, scoops and eye droppers and watch as they play around while transferring water from bowl to cup and vice versa. 

Image: www.picklebums.com

In Frozen Lego your little one won't be playing with Elsa but instead with colourful ice cubes of LEGO blocks! This is a great sensory activity, perfect for a hot summer day. 

--WHAT YOU'LL NEED-- 
LEGO or DUPLO 
Ice cube tray 
Water 
Turkey Baster 
Syringe 
Eye Dropper 
Toy cups, pots, spoons, bowls etc. 
Warm water
Clear Sensory Bin (Large)

--STEP 1-- 
Choose an array of colorful Lego or Duplo Blocks and place them in an ice cube tray. I filled the ice trays with water and placed them in the freezer overnight.

--STEP 2-- 
Once the water has frozen I placed the frozen ice cubes into a bowl and placed it in a sensory bin. 

--STEP 3-- 
Choose a few play kitchen supplies like pots and pans and cups. I also added spoons and slotted spoons, as well as some fine motor tools like eye droppers, a turkey baster, syringe. Finally, give your kid a jar of warm water to melt the frozen Lego! 

Image/activity credit: www.happytoddlerplaytime.com

Have fun with this icy “process art" – a child-directed, choice-driven experience of discovery for your littles. 

--WHAT YOU'LL NEED-- 
Acrylic paint 
Ice cube trays 
Ice cream sticks 
Foil Paper 

--STEP 1-- 
Take your ice cube tray and fill each hole about halfway with paint. Top it with water, stir, then cover the tray with foil. 

--STEP 2-- 
Take a knife and make popsicle stick sized holes in the tin foil all the way around the ice cube tray. Then set in the popsicle sticks. Leave the paint to freeze overnight. 

--STEP 3-- 
Set up your painting area (on the floor or dining table) and lay down blank sheets of papers. Tape down the papers to make sure they don't move around as your kids paint. 

--STEP 4-- 
Placed a set of frozen paint-sicles on a plate with just a hint of water to help the cube start melting. 

Image source: www.busytoddler.com

Sail away on a tiny adventure with your very own sponge sailboat craft that's loads of fun for your little ones. 

--WHAT YOU'LL NEED-- 
Sponges Wood Skewers -used 8″ skewers but 12″ is fine 
construction paper 
scissors 
wire cutters 
glue 

--STEP 1-- 
Trim your sponges with scissors. 

--STEP 2-- 
Create sails by cutting triangles out of construction paper. If desired, fold a small piece of construction paper in half and cut a triangle out on the fold. Glue the fold together on the top of the skewer. 

--STEP 3-- 
Poke the skewer into the sponge so that it goes through the other side at least 1″. Remove the skewer. 

--STEP 4-- 
Poke a hole at the top of the construction paper triangle, along the long edge, and poke the skewer through the paper. Keep the skewer about 1/2″ to 3/8″ from the edge of the paper. Your sail does not have to be taunt on the skewer, it can bend. 

--STEP 5-- 
Push the skewer with the sail through the hole in your sponge. Adjust the sail as necessary and sail away. To sail. Place the boat into the water and let the sponge absorb water before letting go. You’ll need to adjust the skewer up and down through the sponge and adjust the sail for optimal sailing. 

Image credit: www.easypeasyandfun.com

If you've got little fans of water play, this ice play set up is sure to be a huge hit! Plus, it's a cool and refreshing play idea for hot summer days. 

--WHAT YOU'LL NEED-- 
Large bowls/containers 
Ice cubes colored with food coloring (make lots) 
VERY cold water for play (you don’t want the ice cubes melting too quickly) 
Tongs 
Cups 
Spoons, scoops and funnels 
Small bowls and containers 

--STEP 1-- 
Freeze about a dozen ice cube trays full of colorful ice cubes. Rather than adding food coloring to the individual sections of an ice cube tray, add several drops of food coloring to a jug of water, and use that to fill a few ice cube trays. 

--STEP 2-- 
Once your ice cubes are frozen, transfer them into a plastic bag and leave them in the freezer. Give your ice cube trays a rinse, and begin again with a new color. 

--STEP 3-- 
Fill your large container with very cold water and watch as your kids scoop, pour and transfer water from one container to the next using scoops, ladles and funnels. 

Image: www.happyhooligans.ca

Create an icy tower of colorful awesomeness that you and your littles can excavate together. 

--WHAT YOU'LL NEED-- 
Bits and pieces in rainbow colors 
Water 
A tall vase or container 
Large plastic container 
Squeeze bottles

--STEP 1-- 
Take a tall vase and measure out how much water it will take to fill in 6 equal parts (one layer for each color). 

--STEP 2-- 
Pour in the first layer of water, add in your red items and place it in the freezer for a few hours. Keep the remaining water in the refrigerator. Then pour in the second layer of water and add your orange items on top of the now-frozen red items and so on and so forth until you have all your layers. 

--STEP 3-- 
To remove the ice tower, run some water over the outside of the vase and hold it upside down. If you don't have heat-tempered glass, be sure to use caution and use cold water. 

--STEP 4-- 
Once your ice tower is free, place it inside your container and start excavating with your little ones. You can use squeeze bottles to pour warm water over the tower to kickstart the melting process. 

Image: www.funathomewithkids.com

Get out a medium-sized, transparent plastic container (cheap IKEA storage boxes are perfect for this) and fill half of it with water. Gather a bunch of items from around your home e.g. small toys, spoon, cotton and drop them into the water one by one. Your tot is going to have a fun time guessing if the item is going to float or not. 

Image Credit: www.happyhooligans.ca

Fine motor development and water play come together in this fun clothesline activity for toddlers and preschoolers. 

--WHAT YOU'LL NEED-- 
Rope (cotton rope, thick yarn) 
Clothespins 
Bucket or bowl of water 
Doll clothes, face cloths, clean baby socks 
Small amount of soap 

--STEP 1-- 
String your rope up between two posts or deck rails (if outdoors), or two chairs (if indoors). 

--STEP 2-- 
Fill a large bowl or bucket with water, and add a few drops of mild dish soap or a bit of mild laundry detergent. Place the bowl or bucket on the floor covered with a towel. 

--STEP 3-- 
Hand your kids some doll clothes, colorful face cloths or even some of their own socks and watch them wash, squeeze out water and hang the items up to dry. 

Image: www.happyhooligans.ca

Explore rainy weather in this super fun sensory bin for your littles. 

--WHAT YOU'LL NEED-- 
Plastic cup 
Cotton balls 
Water 
A bin to put everything in 

--STEP 1--  
Poke holes in the bottom of the cup and hand it to your child to scoop up some water, and watch as water sprinkles down like rain. 

--STEP 2-- 
Drop the cotton balls into the water and let your child scoop it up into their hands and squeeze the water out, pretending rain is being squeezed from the clouds. (This is a great activity for strengthening their hands and fingers). 

Image: www.teaching2and3yearolds.com

Washing their toys is a very basic activity that your toddlers will surely enjoy. 

--WHAT YOU'LL NEED-- 
2x buckets or plastic containers 
Clean sponge 
Dish soap 
Toys 

--STEP 1-- 
Set up your washing area. You can do this on the kitchen/bathroom floor, bathtub, balcony, garden or even lay down a shower curtain in the middle of the living room. 

--STEP 2-- 
Fill one bucket with water and add some dish soap. Fill the other bucket with plain water for rinsing. 

--STEP 3-- 
Hand your tot a clean sponge and have their (water-friendly) toys ready by their side. 

Image credit: www.handsonaswegrow.com

Enjoy mess-free painting that's buckets of fun for your little ones. Give them large paintbrushes or rollers and let them paint the walls, sidewalk and more, using only water! You can even use this as an opportunity to practice painting letters and numbers. 

--WHAT YOU'LL NEED-- 
A bucket of water 
Paintbrushes/rollers 

--STEP 1--

Have your little one fill their paint tray with water 

--STEP 2-- 

Go wild with your imagination and get creative on the walls, sidewalks or pavements. 

Image/activity credit: www.happyhooligans.ca

Develop your little ones' motor skills and hand-eye-coordination with water-filled playtime. Give them all the tools they need to give their dolls a good scrubbin' in this pretend bath time. 

--WHAT YOU'LL NEED-- 
Plastic Dolls 
Sponges 
Baby wash cloths & hand towels 
Toothbrushes 
Spray bottles 
A soap pump (filled with soapy water) 
Travel shampoo containers filled with watered down shampoo & conditioner. 

--STEP 1-- 
Fill the basin with warm, soapy water and sprinkled it with a few drops of food coloring just to make it a little more interesting. 

--STEP 2-- 
Give your tots the tools they need to scrub, shampoo and lather their dolls for a proper bath. 

Image/activity credit: https://happyhooligans.ca/