Easy Ideas for Water Play with Kids

June 6, 2023 by Sarah White Leave a Comment

I never thought I would say this, but I kind of miss the days when my daughter was younger. Yes, it was a lot to keep her entertained through all those long summer days, but it was also fun coming up with things to do. (She’s 13 now and definitely does not want my help in deciding what to do with her time.)

One of my favorite challenges was coming up with activities we could do outside when it was hot. There was a lot of water play (and ice play!) happening, which is great because it’s easy, fun, not all that messy, and you can do it with things you already have in the house.

Sure you can build or buy a water table if you want — Blitzy has collected a bunch of DIY water tables if you want to build your own — but I always just used a plastic storage bin on the ground or on a low wall outside.

What different kinds of water play can you do? There are all sorts of easy water play activities to choose from!

You can paint with water, like in this tip from Teaching Littles. You can do this on paper as shown or you can “paint” with water outdoors on the sidewalk, on a chalkboard, or experiment with other surfaces. Or try freezing liquid watercolors and painting with the ice cubes.

One easy water play activity my daughter really liked was washing doll clothes. This requires two tubs, one for soapy water and one for clear, and ideally some clothesline and a place to set it up outdoors for clothes to dry, but it’s so easy and actually useful (because how often do you think to wash doll clothes anyway?).

Of course turning your water table/tub into a sensory bin is an easy upgrade, which can be as simple as grabbing some bath toys to the water. If you want to try something a little fancier, check out this list of more than 45 easy water sensory bin ideas collected by Happy Toddler Playtime. The car wash bin is another classic that might appeal to boys more than washing doll clothes.

Another fun and super simple addition to your water play is these sponge balls, which we made years ago from this idea at Natural Beach Living. You can buy sponges at the dollar store and have lots of fun for your water play without spending a lot of money. We used these in sensory bins and in the kiddie pool when we had one. And of course they’re great for water fights, too!

Next Plan Idea:

Activities to Celebrate Ice Cream Month

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Book Review: Las Mañanitas

The celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is important throughout Mexico and other parts of the world. Her feast day is Dec. 12, and the celebrations honoring her appearance to Juan Diego in 1531 begin a few days before that.

Whether you celebrate yourself or just want to share about the celebration at home or in your classroom, Las Mañanitas: The Beautiful Celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a good place to start. The book, by Ernesto Joel Vega Rosales and Jeanette Gonzalez Seneviratne, with illustrations by Dana Sanmar, tells the story of a family’s celebration of the feast day in both English and Spanish.

They prepare with a novena, which is nine days of prayers and preparations. The children, Lucia and Pablo, are given special outfits made by their grandmother that look like what Juan Diego might have worn when he saw Our Lady. The book describes the prayers that are made each day, such as a prayer for respect for life, for families and for the indigenous people of the Americas, to name a few.

As told in the book, Juan Diego was a native Mexican born near modern day Mexico City. His given name was Cuaauhtlatoatzin, which means “He who speaks like an eagle.” When he converted to Christianity his name was changed to Juan Diego, and as he walked to church he passed a hill called Tepeyac. One day he heard the birds singing especially beautifully and a voice called him to go to the top of the hill.

There he saw Our Lady of Guadalupe, who asked him to tell the bishop she wanted a chapel built in her name at the foot of the hill. The bishop asked for a sign that Juan Diego really saw her, and later she had him collect flowers that she blessed and take them to the bishop. When Juan Diego dropped the flowers, an image of Our Lady could be seen on his cloak, which is still on display in her basilica to this day.

The feast day is celebrated as mañanitas, which includes singing, indigenous music and dancing, and children presenting flowers to Our Lady. Juan Diego is remembered today as being humble, brave and faithful, and was the first indigenous American made a saint.

The book is colorful and tells the story in a clear way, and it’s fun to have it both in English and Spanish if you teach Spanish or speak Spanish at home or in the classroom. It’s a great way to learn the basics of the celebration and the story of Juan Diego and why he is still remembered today.

About the book: 40 pages, paperback, published 2024 by Loyola Press. Suggested retail price $14.99.

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Have you read?

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