Beat the heat (and boredom) this summer with these fun at-home water activity ideas.
1. Alphabet fishing
Grab those foam alphabet letters from the bathtub and a large plastic tub or bucket and get ready to go fishing! Fill the container with water, head outdoors and toss the letters in. Our favorite water vessel to use is our little kids pool or water table. Let your little one use their favorite “grabber tool” to capture the letters. Have them grab the alphabet letters in order, find the letters to spell their name, and learn to spell some of their favorite words.
2. Sponge Squeeze
Head to your kitchen or your local Dollar Bin and grab up some sponges. You can cut them into fun shapes and sizes and then find some various sizes of buckets, cups and containers and let the little ones “transfer” water from one to the other. We love this activity for eye-hand coordination practice as well as depth perception awareness. Take it up a notch and add some food coloring to your water and let the mix-and-match fun begin!
3. Water Balloon War
There are so many things you can do with water balloons in the yard but here are a few of our favorites.
-Classic water balloon fight
-Draw letters on the balloons with sharpies and let the kids spell different words by tossing the balloons as they spell the word.
-Attach water balloons to your deck railing and let the children see how many they can break by tossing their favorite toy at them.
-Carry the water balloons from one end of the yard to the other and see how many they can do without dropping or breaking them
-Fill water balloons with colored water and then toss them on the driveway to create a fun work of art.
4. Ocean Sensory Bin
Add blue food coloring to any container filled with water, let your little one drop in their favorite sea creatures and let the creative fun begin! Let them make a beautiful ocean of fun. One of our kiddos favorite toys to use in their Ocean Sensory Bin is this Spark Shark Fish Hunt pool toy. Want something more? Create “coral” with these fun starfish bath toys. They can stick to the bottom of the ocean for little ones to grab or swim around.
5. Water Sprinkler Splash
Pull out the garden hose and grab a silly sprinkler head like this and let the hours of fun begin. Those hot summer days don’t stand a chance with this fun water toy!
6. Ice Cube Color Sorting
This one is a great activity on those especially hot summer days! Find some animal shaped ice cube trays at your local store and fill them up with water and a little food coloring. Once frozen, toss them into a cold bucket of water and let your little ones sort them by color into smaller bins before they melt and mix. They love the race against time part of this activity.
7. Pool Noodle Stacking
Find some various colored pool noodles and cut them into various sized disks. Find some fun stick shaped items around the house (such as a turkey baster, funnel, yard stick etc.) and let the little ones stack the rings. This activity can easily be done in or out of water.
8. Pom Pom Scoop
Head to the craft store and pick up a bag of craft pom poms and use those bins you used above to toss the pom poms in the water and let the littles scoop them out. Have them color sort them into another container or use a slotted spoon to create a fun fountain as they grab for them. There are lots and lots of fun ways to enjoy this activity.
9. Water Gun Painting
Pick your favorite canvas or large craft paper, fill water guns with colored water or paint and let the squirting begin! Have several water guns available with different colors and let the little ones squirt the canvas. As the water runs it will create a fun watercolor effect on the canvas. Some creative, art gallery worthy pieces will come out of this activity for sure.
10. Rainbow Bubbles
Fill your kiddie pool with water, dish soap and top with some food coloring. Kids can use their favorite bubble wand or other “tools” to create a colorful rainbow of bubbles and suds. And hey, they will be squeaky clean when they are done too. We love that added bonus!
How do you beat the heat in the summer with your little ones? Share some fun ideas in the comments!
Have a blessed week,
Team Simply Blessed Kids