Water and children are a magnetic pair- even if it's not planned, kids will find any sink or puddle where they can make a splash! Playing with cups and scoops, experimenting with absorption and density, and developing new mixtures integrate sensory experiences with academic concepts. Whether your water play comes in the form of a rainy day, a hot Summer sprinkler activity, or a sensory table set-up, these activities for kids are sure to spark joy as they learn!
1. Will It Absorb?
This simple water experiment will inspire hours of fun! Children will make predictions about different objects' absorbent qualities, then place those items into an ice cube tray to test them out! They will work on fine motor skills as they use eyedroppers to add water and test their hypotheses!
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2. Spray Bottle Letters
Students will work on letter recognition with this easy activity using inexpensive spray bottles! Write the letters on the ground with chalk, then let the children spray them and say them aloud! This activity can easily target rhyming words, letter sounds, or many other literacy skills with a few minor adjustments!
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3. Alphabet Soup
This fun idea for your literacy rotations will also help students with their letter recognition and fine motor skills! Simply place plastic letters in a bowl of water and challenge your students to hunt through their alphabet soup for the letters in their name or specific sight words.
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4. Sink/Float Experiments
This simple science activity is sure to become a favorite, whatever your theme! Begin with a simple "Will it sink or float?" sort of material. Children can search for materials they think belong in each category, then test their hypotheses! Bring this activity back each season by testing festive items!
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5. Pouring Station
Set up a pouring station with basic supplies from your kitchen! Add in a bit of color-mixing magic by adding food dye or colorful ice cubes to the mix. This Montessori-inspired activity is a great way to practice life skills while you beat the hot summer heat!
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6. Oil & Water Sensory Bags
This inexpensive idea uses baking essentials to create sensory bags! Let your children explore mixing food colors, water, and vegetable oil in a plastic baggie (be sure to seal it up with tape too). Children will love trying to mix the liquids and watching them separate again!
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7. Dry Erase Magic Trick
This dry-erase marker trick will quickly become a favorite water/STEM activity for your students. They will be shocked when they find out they can just draw a picture that will float off into a bowl of water! Discuss the concept of solubility to bring science into the conversation.
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8. Underwater Volcanoes
Elementary students will learn about the relative densities of hot and cold water during this underwater volcano experiment. A cup with water that is warm and dyed with food coloring will "erupt" into a jar of cooler liquid, mimicking real underwater volcanic activity!
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9. Build-a-Boat
Children will love experimenting with materials to construct a functional boat! They can build them from recyclables, apples, natural materials, pool noodles, or whatever you have on hand. Children can learn about different nautical designs, then attempt to create sails that really catch the wind or motors that run!
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10. Rainy Day Boats
Outdoor water activities are even more fun when it's raining! On one of those drizzly days, challenge children to create a boat from tin foil or paper. Then, launch the boats into a deep puddle or the streams that form along the curb. See how far they can go!
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11. Puddle Painting
Take tempera paints outside on a rainy day and let Mother Nature provide the rest! Lay a piece of cardstock next to a puddle and see the designs the children can create from their splashes!
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12. Water Painting
A literacy center with a watery twist! Children just need a cup of water and a paintbrush to practice their letter formation during this fun activity. Children will use their water to paint letters, numbers, or sight words onto concrete or stones outdoors. Then, watch as the letters disappear!
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13. Water Balloon Painting
Children will love this fun craft that uses water balloons to make prints! Children can roll or squish balloons through the paint to leave different designs on butcher paper. Or, if you're brave, fill the balloons with paint themselves! This messy process art is sure to become a Summer favorite!
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14. Painting with Water Guns
Add liquid watercolors to miniature water guns and let students paint on a large piece of canvas! Alternately, make giant targets on butcher paper and let the watercolors record their prowess! Either way, your students will love this fun take on classic water activity.
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15. Water Targets
Set up a few toys on top of a bucket, stump, or box to use for target practice! Use water guns, sponge bombs, or other pool toys to knock down the items and make quite a splash!
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16. Squirt Gun Races
Children will explore how water can exert force with this fun activity for Summer days! Children will move plastic cups across suspended ropes by squirting them with their water guns. For more water fun, extend part of the obstacle course over a water slide or inflatable pool!
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17. Mud Kitchen
The classic mud kitchen will keep all of your kids busy; it's even an activity that a bored toddler can join in on! Children will invent stories, explore measurement concepts, and use thematic vocabulary as they cook in their mud kitchen. Clean off in the kiddie pool right after!
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18. Water Wall
This fantastic STEM water activity will take some creativity and building skills, but it will be worth it for the never-ending fun! Attach recyclables or repurposed pipes to a board to create a pathway for water to flow. The possibilities for designs are endless!
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19. Marble Track Water Play
Add marble track pieces to your water table for extra fun! Students can design, build, and pour water down their pathways to their hearts' content. Try putting two tubs side by side and having a water "race!"
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20. Giant Bubbles
Bubbles are a surefire way to get kids excited. Giant bubbles are even better! Gather the necessary materials and make your bubble solution in a small kiddie pool or bucket. Then, watch the joy that ensues when your kids start making bubbles as big as them!
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21. Fairy Soup
This creative water activity will have your kids engaging with nature and all of its sensory elements! Children will make a base of "flower soup," then add colorful leaves, acorns, seed pods, or whatever they can gather from the outdoors. Add glitter, sequins, or fairy figurines for a magical touch!
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22. Invisible Water Beads
Surprise your students with this awesome water activity! Place clear water beads in any container you have on hand, add scoops or cups, and let students explore! They will love the sensory experience and getting to play with this awesome water toy!
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23. Lemonade Sensory Play
This activity is inspired by the lemonade stands that pop up on those hot Summer days. Add lemon slices, ice cubes, juicers, cups, and ladles to your sensory tub, and let children have fun exploring this delightful-smelling water activity however they choose!
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24. Sensory Walk
This fantastic water activity is sure to delight your kids! Add various sensory materials to tubs of water, like water beads, clean sponges, river rocks, or pool noodles. Let students shed their shoes and walk through the buckets! They will love getting to feel the different materials with their toes!
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25. Pom Pom Squeeze
Encourage students to play around with volume as they soak up the water with pom poms and squeeze them into jars! This is a simple and sweet activity to help develop students' fine motor skills at your sensory table!
Learn More: Fantastic Fun & Learning
26. Frozen Pom Poms
Frozen pom poms are an inexpensive way to add some extra fun to your water table! Let children explore and then encourage them to try a task, like using tongs to sort them by color or arranging them into fun designs!
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27. Trike Wash
A trike wash is sure to become a favorite Summer activity for your kids. Provide them with all the supplies they need such as soap, buckets of water, and cheap sponges, and let them get to work! If it happens to turn into a silly hose fight, then so be it!
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28. Baby Doll Bath Time
Baby doll bath time is the perfect addition to your family theme. Add clean sponges, those old hotel soaps and shampoos, toothbrushes, and loofahs to a tub of water. Let the children become pretend parents and give their baby dolls a scrub!
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29. End-of-the-Year Toy Cleanup
Get your students to help you with your classroom shut-down by putting your plastic toys on the water table with toothbrushes, sponges, and soap! Kids will love getting to be your helpers as they wash your toys and prepare them for the next class.
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30. Make a River
This challenging water transfer activity will help children to learn about the natural water sources on earth. Ask children to dig a trench (best done in the dirt or a sandbox with lining) to create a flowing river from one location to another.
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31. Building Dams
As children learn about moving water in streams, creeks, and rivers, the topic of beavers and their dams often pops up! Relate this to the man-made versions and get children engaged in this STEM project of dam-building. They can use classroom materials or natural items to build these functional structures!
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32. Ocean Animals Small World Play
As you plan your Summertime water table activities, try out this ocean animal small-world activity! Add items like plastic or rubber animal figurines, sand, aquarium plants, and small toy boats to your sensory table, and see what stories your students will come up with!
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33. Ocean Soap Foam
Making this cool sensory foam is as easy as combining soap and water in a blender! Once you get the basics down, experiment with different colors of soap too! Use the ocean foam on your sensory table or outside in an inflatable swimming pool for hours of fun!
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34. Itsy Bitsy Spider Water Play
Bring poetry and nursery rhymes into your sensory center by adding components for retelling "The Itsy Bitsy Spider." This activity is even toddler-approved, but also works as a kindergarten activity or beyond, as nursery rhymes are known to be an essential component to developing phonemic awareness.
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35. Pond Small World Play
In your Springtime study of amphibians and insects, create a pond small world set-up in your water table! Add frog and bug figurines as well as lily pads for them to rest on, and let kids' imaginations do their thing!
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