Fun and Educational Water Activities to Welcome Back the Sun!

Spring has officially sprung, and the sun is bathing us once again.  It’s time to get outside and enjoy the most natural toy there is—water!  We all likely have amazing memories of epic slip ‘n slide sessions, running sans swimsuits through the sprinklers, and dodging water balloons.  Those afternoons were (are) the best!  Here are few more water-centric activities to enjoy, some of which are Montessori-inspired, and all of which are educational, no (or very low) cost, and will delight those kiddos:

1.  Water Pouring

This is a great activity for fine-motor coordination, so it’s particularly great for kids in the 3-6 range, but totally fun for older kids too! Water pouring is a Montessori-style activity that involves transferring water between containers, droppers, and vials of all shapes and sizes.  You can introduce your kids to using a funnel, and how and why that tools works.  You can teach them how to use a dropper to transfer water into smaller containers.  What I love about this activity (aside from being super fun and getting wet) is it teaches our kids some critical thinking skills—assessing sizes and shapes of containers, and what tools will work best.  There’s a lot of trial and error (i.e., spilling water), which makes it that much more fun!  It’s also a zero-cost activity, because you can gather all the things you need from around your home!  Bonus!  This activity is the epitome of practical-life skills meets fun.

2.  Scrub-a-Dub!

Making cleaning fun is pure parenting genius.  Our kids have a lot (that’s an understatement) of outdoor toys (i.e. containers and bowls and measuring cups, etc.) they use in their outdoor “laboratory.”  They see mud on the daily.  But now that the sun’s out, they can have fun giving those toys a bath!  If it doesn’t sound fun, I promise you it is.  I think we underestimate how much our kiddos want to do “adult” things, like cleaning.  In fact, we should let them help more!  I know my kids love to help clean windows and vacuum, and even though it’s not as efficient or thorough, the goal is for them to feel accomplished and like contributing members of the family.  And the more ownership they can feel over things, the more they will want to do them.  Win, win!  So go get them excited about scrubbing their outdoor toys squeaky clean!  They will feel so proud.

3.  Water “Painting”

A super fun and educational way to let your kids “paint” without a mess is to give them a container of water and a paintbrush and let them go to town outside!  It’s a fantastic way for them to discover the effect of water on different surfaces like wood, rocks, and leaves.  Each texture will yield a different result, and your child can experiment and explore all around the yard.  They can discover that flinging water makes droplets and designs, and the effect of using more or less water on their brush.  And if the water spills, it’s another (non-messy) lesson about gravity!  You can’t go wrong with this one.

4.  Chalk Watercolor

Take sidewalk chalk to the next level with a little water and a paintbrush!  Your kiddos can create their chalk masterpiece and then use a paintbrush to turn it into a watercolor.  Like water painting, they can see the effect of water on different mediums, and learn about the process of dilution.  Or, you can let them dissolve some chalk into water (another fun learning moment!) and paint with colored water.  Maybe they can even experiment with different water temperatures to see if the chalk dissolves faster in cold or hot water, or whether they need to break the chalk up to help it dissolve—so many learning opportunities from such a simple activity!

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I love re-discovering the world through my children’s eyes.  I think these low or no-cost activities are the perfect way to get outside in the beautiful sunshine, connect with nature, and learn something all at the same time.  I hope your family will enjoy them too!