The summer weather makes for a fun time to explore water games and activities with young children. When playing with water, the possibilities really are endless! It can be used for science experiments, art projects, sensory play, and more. In this article, we share a children’s book that looks at the many different places that we find water, as well as a variety of activities and ideas for water-based learning and exploration.
A note to remember: the state of California is currently in a drought. While exploring these activities, please be conscious of your water usage, and have conversations with children about how to conserve water to protect our planet. Remind children that it is important to not let water run when it is not in use, to avoid wasting one of our most valuable resources.
Antoinette Portis’ popular children’s book, Hey, Water! is a simple story that explores the many different forms that water can take…from rivers to fog, and from tears to dewdrops. This story will spark interesting conversations with children about the many different places that water can be found. The book can be paired with any of the activities below for a deeper dive into exploring and learning about water.
Image & activity idea from The Pinay Homeschooler
Making their own rivers and waterfalls is an easy and interesting activity for children to learn about how water moves. With pipettes, watercolors, and a tray, children can create their own beautiful natural scenery. You can make the watercolors in many watery shades of blue, green, and purple by mixing tempera paints with water. As children squirt the pipettes of watercolor onto the paper, they’ll be able to observe the colors flow down the paper like a waterfall. As a note, this activity can be messy, so it’s a great one to try outdoors!
Click here to find more details for setting up this activity.
Image & activity idea from Happy Hooligans
With just paintbrushes and a bucket of water, you can set up a simple painting activity that is ideal for children to explore outdoors. Children can dip brushes in the water, and use them to paint — just as they would with watercolors or other artistic materials! This activity allows children to practice fine motor skills as they hold the brushes while expressing their creativity. It can also be used as an opportunity for children to practice writing their letters (as shown in the image above), or it can be more open-ended, by inviting children to paint and create whatever they are interested in. This activity is best done outdoors on a surface such as sidewalk where the water really changes the color and leaves
Click here for more details about setting up this activity.
This activity is a great learning opportunity for preschoolers to experiment with different textures and materials and observe the way that they break down in water. Collect a variety of items from outside or from your kitchen for children to place in water and see if they dissolve. If you plan this activity in advance, you might even invite parents to bring in some items from home that their children are curious about. Some examples might be…
Image & activity idea from Hands on as we Grow
Flour
Sugar (white or brown)
Raw Noodles
Cornmeal
Oatmeal
Colored Sprinkles
Sand
Baking powder or baking soda
Invite children to make guesses about what they think will happen with each item and then have them revisit their guesses to see how their hypotheses turned out.
Click here for more details about setting up this activity.
The Water Song from Sesame Street: This water song from Sesame Street is great to pair with the children’s book, Hey Water!, because it examines the many places that we can find water and the different ways that it is used in our communities.
