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One of the easiest, most sure-fire ways to engage kids in simple outdoor play is to add a little water to the mix. The aisles of the local big box store will offer you a variety of pools, sprinklers, and slippery-slides that certainly can be lots of fun if you have the money to spend and the space to enjoy them. But what if you only have a stretch of sidewalk, a balcony, or a porch for close-to-home outdoor time? Or perhaps you would rather save your pennies for a big trip or a little staycation time?
One classic idea my mother-in-law shared with me is to let the kids “wash dishes” outside. This is a great go-to activity whether you have acres of space or just little spot all to yourself. All you need is a couple of buckets, pails, or big bowls, some dishes for washing (you’ll probably want to choose the unbreakable variety), and some water. Add a dot of dish soap to one container of water and reserve the other container for rinsing. What a simple way to enjoy a little time in the shade – washing, rinsing, splashing, talking, laughing, and playing.
What does water play look like in your outdoor space?
photo courtesy of peasap
{ 39 comments… read them below or add one }
Awesome post! Our kids love water gun fights, especially when my husband gets in the mix!
Chele’s last blog post..Feeding Time – Love the Lord With Everything You Have and Are!
@Chele, oh yes. water guns. They never go out of style!
Megan’s last blog post..Simple As That: Simple Outdoor Water Play
Shoot. Wish I would’ve read this 20 minutes ago. I just washed all the dishes myself.
Marla Taviano’s last blog post..give-away monday!
@Marla Taviano, ah, well, there’s always tomorrow. Or, in your case, there’s always the day after you return from the trip!
Megan’s last blog post..Simple As That: Simple Outdoor Water Play
We have a small plastic wading pool ($6.00), the garden hose (came with the house) and three spray bottles ($1.00) each. Our boys are four and two, so they find the spray bottles easier to use and fill than water guns.
jill’s last blog post..When your friend’s child has food allergies . . .
@jill, spray bottles are definitely easier for little hands to maneuver. My girls think they have hit the jackpot when they get a hold of those!
Megan’s last blog post..Simple As That: Simple Outdoor Water Play
I pass out paint brushes and they paint with water on the porch, wash rocks, and make footprints. So fun.
Rachel’s last blog post..Before You Leave the House Today…
@Rachel, I had never thought of water painting outside before, but Dacey did this at Vacation Bible School a few weeks ago and it was such a hit. We’ve been using those cheap sponge brushes – such fun.
Megan’s last blog post..Simple As That: Simple Outdoor Water Play
we let our kids at preschool wash a car today! they had so much fun scrubbing and rinsing.
harmony’s last blog post..Country Roads (and Rivers)
@harmony, my toddler had the exact same idea when I turned her loose with the hose this morning! My car got a nice shower. I can only imagine the good times a crew of preschoolers would have with this task.
Megan’s last blog post..Simple As That: Simple Outdoor Water Play
yes, my boys are endlessly entertained with water play. We usually get the small baby pool out and let them take turns with control of the hose “filling up” the pool. However, the water rarely makes it in the pool. They spend most of their time putting it down the slide and watering the garden. When it’s hot enough I let them spray me.
Erin’s last blog post..You Know All About the World
@Erin, I am definitely a fan of getting wet with the kids. And I’ve also recently discovered I can get lots of weeding done while they water – multitasking in the garden!
Megan’s last blog post..Simple As That: Simple Outdoor Water Play
We just broke out the paddling pool for the first time this Summer – it is warming up and preparing for much splashing this afternoon!
Jamie
steadymom’s last blog post..A Summer Rhythm
@steadymom, oh! Hope you had fun! (How could you not?)
Megan’s last blog post..Simple As That: Simple Outdoor Water Play
We too have little kiddie pools that I put out for the boys. Also one of our local parks has a water-park type section with fountains and gushers. We went this morning and all that time in the water and the sun = a great nap for both boys.
LaToya’s last blog post..Potty Time!!
@LaToya, such a great benefit of outdoor play time – nice, peaceful sleep!
Megan’s last blog post..Simple As That: Simple Outdoor Water Play
My son enjoys making fountains by stacking up bowls and other containers. You can see what I mean here:
http://adventureskids.blogspot.com/2009/03/fountains.html
Catherine’s last blog post..ten pin bowling
@Catherine, cool! I get it! What an innovative take on water play. Definitely something older kids would enjoy. Thanks for sharing the link!
Megan’s last blog post..Simple As That: Simple Outdoor Water Play
My 1-year old son loves to play in the water outside and I always feel like I’m getting a break because he’s so busy and happy–very relaxing. A few months ago, I posted an idea on my blog for making your own kid’s water tale that I found on another mom’s site called “Tales of an Ordinary Housewife.” We picked up the inexpensive materials at a hardware store and, now that my husband is home form a long trip, we’re finally ready to make one. I don’t know if you can copy/paste this link, but I hope so, it’s such a great idea!
http://talesofanordinaryhousewife.blogspot.com/2008/09/how-to-build-your-own-water-table-for.html
Kelly Feinberg’s last blog post..Simple Baby Hat
@Kelly Feinberg, wow! A $14 water table?! LOVE it. Thank you so much for that link. I’ll be sharing it with my husband, too!
Megan’s last blog post..Simple As That: Simple Outdoor Water Play
This is definitely a favorite around here too. One of our favorites is to freeze “ice treasures” – you freeze tiny buttons, cookie cutters, etc. in layers in a container in your freezer (so they’re dispersed throughout the block) and then you pop it out of the container, head outside with some toothbrushes, snot suckers (sorry, I don’t know what they’re really called!), warm water and salt to dig the treasures out. So much fun!
Mandi @ Simple Nest’s last blog post..Showcase: Framing Children’s Art
@Mandi @ Simple Nest, I absolutely love this idea. My daughter likes to freeze fruit to make fruit-y ice, but I had never thought of freezing other objects. We will be trying this one tomorrow. Thank you so much for the idea!
Megan’s last blog post..Simple As That: Simple Outdoor Water Play
We have had the same water table for 5 years and every summer the girls love when we set it up. We fill it with water and put measuring cups, funnels, plastic tubing, strainers and this year we added turkey basters – in a basket nearby. Thanks for the great post!
@Mariah ~ Playful Learning, water tables are such a great source of open-ended imaginative play. Hours and hours of activity and learning there!
Megan’s last blog post..Simple As That: Simple Outdoor Water Play
The twins usually get the hose and squirt each other and fill up the watering cans and try to water my flowers then it ends up with water on the dirt pile and mud pies and muddy kids. I just hose everyone down when they are tired of playing. Lots of fun!
Rana’s last blog post..Seperated but still together.
@Rana, this sounds EXACTLY like what goes on at my house – garden hose, watering cans, messy, muddy flower beds. Yep! It’s all very familiar!
Megan’s last blog post..Simple As That: Simple Outdoor Water Play
I did a post last summer to this exact effect:
http://backporchreflections.blogspot.com/2008/06/wfmw-splish-splash-measure.html
my little fella just LOVES playing with all things water! makes me remember we need to do it some more this summer too!
jodi @ bpr’s last blog post..check us out!
@jodi @ bpr, well, great minds think alike, right?! How fun. Your little one is TOO CUTE, especially with the big ol’ sun hat!
Megan’s last blog post..Simple As That: Simple Outdoor Water Play
We have a patio that is pretty tiny, but my kids still love to play out there. Water play for them consist of a small blow up wading pool, filled with water, squirt guns and spray bottles.
@Christina, what more do you need for lots of soaking wet fun?
Megan’s last blog post..Simple As That: Simple Outdoor Water Play
‘watering the garden’ with a hose goes a long, long way. but filling buckets from the rain barrel is pretty fun too – fill it up, toss it on the plants. my boys sometimes fill dump trucks (big push kind) with the water and ‘dump’ to water plants too! they get as wet as the garden, but it is a fun way to cool off!
denise’s last blog post..get a little wild.
@denise, we definitely do the “water the garden” thing daily. Sometimes twice a day even!
Megan’s last blog post..Simple As That: Come on, get a little muddy!
My little one’s splash in an empty turtle sandbox their daddy filled up with warm water instead of sand. (The little girls next door have a sandbox, so our wee girl goes over there to play in the sand and they come here to splash in the turtle-pool.) Our 10 month old son LOVES it, splash Mommy and Daddy, splash big sister, splash big brothers if they come near, splash girls from next door. Splash, splash, splash. With older kids and limited space, the best idea I’ve ever seen was when my former Mother-in-law let my older boys play water-balloon catch on her 4 X 8 foot balcony when they were about 4 and 5 years old.
Thanks so much for reminding me about painting with water! I did that all the time when I was little and tommorrow we’re getting out the paint brushes!
@Janine, my 4 year old has been requesting water balloons for days. I think it’s time I got that going for her. She will love it! Thanks for the reminder of such a fun, classic summer activity!
Megan’s last blog post..Simple As That: Come on, get a little muddy!
hi Megan – just found your site…I love it since I am passionate about intentionality with our families.
Water fun…we have a turtle tub filled up all day, but the cutest thing is that our puppies now have claimed it as their own. Six puppies don’t make room for the little ones.
They’ll be gone soon, so we’re enjoying it as long as we can.
Jen@Balancing Beauty and Bedlam’s last blog post..Deals and Steals
@Jen, awwwwwwww! even little puppy dogs need to cool off in the summer. How sweet!
Megan’s last blog post..Simple As That: Come on, get a little muddy!
The other day I set up a bucket of water on our deck and gave my daughter some cups. She could have spent hours pouring and “throwing” water everywhere. She loved it!! It was a perfect time to whip out the camera…. The power of water to calm, excite, or energize always amazes me.
@turnitupmom, yes! cups and water are all a wee one needs to have some BIG fun outside!
Megan’s last blog post..Simple As That: Come on, get a little muddy!
My daughter recently made her own fountain in her pool. I am sure there was a science lesson there but I kind of missed it. The water gets higher and displaces the container. The picture is in this post. http://magicalmuse.typepad.com/magical_musings/2009/07/keeping-cool-in-hot-temperatures.html. One other thing with water is we sometimes reuse the pool water for clotheswashing. I have an old fashioned tool of sorts and you can put in biodegradeable soap or not depending on where the pool is. Wash a few clothing items and hang them up on the line to dry outside. I use clothes that aren’t too dirty for this (ones that don’t need stain removal).