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Six Awesome Ways to Do Water Play with Kids this Summer
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We’re just a weeks into a long summer and you want to make sure you have plenty of ammo in your mommy arsenal to keep the kids busy! It’s a great time to be outdoors but oh so hot. Try some of these fun, and simple activities to keep kids cool and in the fresh air. With the exception of just a few items most of these supplies should be laying around your house or garage.

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Bottle Sprinkler – Poke a clean 2 liter bottle with holes all around. Attach a male to male adapter that you can pick up at your local home improvement store for just a couple bucks. Connect your water hose. Drape the hose over a branch, turn on water. You now have now completed a homemade, recycled (pat yourself on the back here) and easy peasy project.

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Ice-cavating – Use a butter tub, or other disposable small plastic container. Drop several of your child’s favorite plastic toys in, fill to 1” from top with water. (Speaking of toys, dinosaurs make a fun archeology dig.) Freeze overnite. A few minutes before you’re ready to go outside and begin pull container from freezer to allow ice block to loosen from the sides. Take ice block outside and lay it in the grass. Give your child spoons, a magnifying glass and a bucket of water with cups for pouring . Encourage your child to experiment with different techniques to melt the ice and free their toys. Older children can be given additional items such as salt, or a mallet. If using a mallet or sharper tools, please keep children closely monitored.

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Sponge Balls – Cut standard kitchen sponges into 3 strips, alternating colors-stack the sponges, twist small rubber brand around the middle, then spread the sponges and fluff them out. Give each child a bucket of water for rewetting, and several sponge balls. Don’t forget to stand back!

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Water Bag Piñata – Gather a 5 gallon plastic bag (garbage bags can be picked up at Dollar Tree), a rope, a bandana or other blindfold, a stick or broom handle. Fill plastic bag with 1-2 gallons of water, then tie a knot in bag. Tie the rope just below the knot. Blindfold your child, and have an adult drop rope and bag over a limb- you can either tie it so it remains stationary or tease challenge your child by raising and lowering the bag as they swing. It could be fun to fill with new small water toys you picked up at the dollar store.

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Sand and Water Table – Make your own sand and water play tables by purchasing some inexpensive bins from Wal-Mart or the Dollar tree. Fill one with sand, and one with water. Provide your child with simple household items like; spoons, cups, sand toys, medicine droppers, funnels, colanders, etc. Besides just being plain old fun this will allow you to sneak in some learning- Measuring, mixing, bouancy, The Scientific Method (hypothesis) and fine motor skills through pouring, and scooping. Won’t you be the clever mama?

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Squirt Gun Phonics – Here is another sneaky learning game, you can do this on your driveway, or the side of a wooden fence or shed. Draw random letters, numbers, words, or even shapes for the little ones. Ask your child to “shoot” the letters as you call them out or sound them out. This is also a great muscle building activity to help develop fine motor skills.

Have fun and don’t forget to let yourself get caught up in some of the water fun with your kiddo’s this summer. These sweet memories will linger in their minds long after the school bell rings.

Also check out these fun activities!

• Make Colored Rice – Pin It
• Rainy Day Activities Round-Up – Pin It
• Make Colored Pasta and Do It Yourself Toddler Activities – Pin It

WHAT’S TRENDING? Looking for a few engaging activities? Grab Minute to Win it Games – Traditional, Holiday, Group, and more! Use these fun activities in the office, classroom, or at your next birthday party.