Knowing the benefits of water play is essential as we make teaching opportunities intentional and meaningful for our children.
Here are the top 5 benefits for children’s development:
- Hand-eye coordination
- Introduces math and science concepts
- Enhances concentration and focus
- Develops motor skills and sensory exploration
- Builds social and communication skills
Here’s a list of engaging and interactive activities to make water play more fun!
Physical Development – Gross Motor & Hand/Eye Coordination
○ Water Relay Races (pass the sponge, cup on head, etc. to increase hand/eye
coordination and gross motor skills
○ Limbo w/pool noodle
Cognition – Building Connections
○ Using a theme & applying it to water play to build connections
(example: ice cream cup instead of buckets)
Literacy
○ Alphabet Water Activities (add letters to water and fish it out, spray letters on
window, etc. )
STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math)
○ Car Wash -= design a car wash using different materials (PVC piping and connectors, dusters, sponges, windsocks, etc.)
○ Build a beach
○ Toy boats-children build boats using various materials such as an avocado shell for
base
○ Lego tower- build the largest tower without it falling down and then spray down
○ Build a DIY water wall
Math
○ Duck Races (Use rubber duckies in a large plastic bin and students measure how
far it went. They can also make predictions how far they’ll go and which one will
get their the quickest and explain why)
Science
○ Erupting Ice Chalk
○ Sink or Float Experiment
○ More science experiments with water!
Art
○ Paint dyed water
