SOME WATER BASED GAMES

Here in Australia, the weather has become pretty warm recently and I have started using water based games more often. Mr. Junior loves playing with water anyway and these almost no-cost and easy-to-do games help him keep cool and busy. I also like these games because they provide wonderful opportunities for me to introduce more words to enhance his vocabulary (eg. wet/dry, pouring/spooning/pulling/pushing/squeezing etc) and maths skills (heavy/light, big/small, empty/full, 1ml/5ml etc).

Depending on your little fun lover's age and readiness, you can alter the materials a bit (initially, I'd definitely recommend the use of sponge rather than the syringe as syringe needs more challenging fine motor skills and hand-eyecoordination skills than the sponge does and it is important that your child enjoys it and doesn't get frustrated because of it. It is always helpful to make sure that they feel that they can achieve things before moving onto the next level. Challenges are great but not too much of it. You need to decide and perhaps play by ear what and when he/she is ready for).

A little bowl

Materials needed:

• two containers - any size you like (I like different size jars made out of different materials. Even some glass or plastic cups or some little bowls would work well for most kids)
• a tray or a large container to prevent water spill
• water

The idea here is that your child transfers water from one container into the other hopefully without spilling any. First, one container is filled with some water and then it is poured into the other. There may be some water spill but the large tray in which the other two containers are placed will still keep the rest of the house dry!

A simple sponge

Materials needed:

• a sponge (not too big, for it would be hard for your child to hold well)
• two containers (any size you like but one criterion you need to keep in mind is that the sponge should fit in them)
• a tray or a large container to prevent water spill
• water

How you use these materials is that the containers are placed in the large tray. One of the containers is filled with some water. The sponge is dipped in the one with water, the water is sucked and then squeezed into the empty container. This is repeated until all the water is transferred into the originally empty bowl. They can keep doing it until they've had enough.

A syringe with no needle

Materials needed:

• a syringe WITHOUT a needle (especially with younger children, the bigger, the better)
• two containers any size you like
• a tray or a large container to prevent water spill
• water

Note: This particular activity may be best suitable for children over the age of 3 or 4. 

What your child does here is similar to the one with sponge (see above).  The containers are placed in the large tray. One of the containers is filled with some water. Using the syringe, some water is sucked and then emptied out into the other container.  This is repeated until all the water is transferred into the originally empty bowl or alternatively, they can keep doing it until they've had enough.

Feel free to use your own variation and please don't forget to share with us your variety.