Play With Water

Play With Water

Want a fun way to cool off on
a hot day?

Here are some great ideas for
outdoor water play - something
children of all ages will enjoy!
These activities are great for
children because they are
open-ended and provide opportunities
for creative learning experiences.



Waterworks

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What You Will Need:

• Old Garden Hose or Clear Plastic Tubing
• PVC Pipe, various lengths and diameters
• PVC Joints, Elbows, and Connectors
• Funnels, various sizes (the more funnels, the more fun!)
• Plastic Turkey Basters
• Buckets
• Water, of course!
• Zip-ties or string (optional)
• Clear Plastic Soda Bottles (optional)
• Patio furniture, old boxes, a swingset - anything that provides a variety of heights to work with

What You Do:

• Have children help measure while an adult cuts an old garden hose or plastic tubing into a variety of lengths. For example, a 2-foot length, a 3-foot length, etc. (If you do not have a cutting tool, a serrated knife will work).
• Have an adult cut PVC pipes to various lengths. We recommend having at least six different pieces of pipe, but the more pipe - the more fun!
• Give children the hoses, pipes, connectors, funnels, basters, and buckets and have them assemble their own waterworks plumbing system! Water can be poured into a funnel attached to a length of hose, which then empties into another funnel attached to another length of hose, etc.
• Use turkey basters to blow air through the hoses to help move the water. Basters are also fun to use to suction up the water, and squirt it into a hose or pipe.
• Attach the hoses, pipes, and funnel contraptions to patio furniture, play forts, swingsets, fences, or another item that provides a variety of heights to work with. You can attach the hoses using plastic zip-ties (available at any hardware store) or by using string.
• Let kids explore different set ups to see if they can get the water to flow through all their "pipes" and ultimately into a bucket... which can then be emptied back into a funnel to start the entire process all over again.

Variations:

• Clear plastic tubing (about 1 inch diameter) works really well for this play idea. Kids can watch the water flow through the hoses while they pour. Clear plastic tubing can be found at many hardware stores, and some pet supply stores as well.
• If pouring water through several funnels into one bucket, add a little food coloring to each bucket and see what color you end up with at the end.
• If you'd like, carefully punch several small holes into a clear plastic soda bottle, then attach the soda bottle to the end of a hose. When the water flows through the hose into the bottle, you have your own sprinkler to cool off with! You could use plastic milk jugs, as well.
• PVC valves can be added to the pipes so children can control the water flow. A great lesson in fluid dynamics!

Paint with Water

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What You Will Need:

• Old Paint Brushes (a variety of large and small brushes make painting more fun)
• Buckets
• Water... of course!
• A Canvas... a Cement Sidewalk or Asphalt Driveway

What You Do:

• Provide your children with a variety of paintbrushes and buckets of water and have them paint their masterpieces on your sidewalk or driveway.
• Make sure to take pictures of your children's creations before they evaporate!

Variations:

• Use sidewalk chalk to draw designs on your sidewalk or driveway before you start painting with water. When you add water, the designs are colorful and children love to blend the colors.

Float Boats

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What You Will Need:

• 1 Cork for each boat
• Toothpicks
• Paper
• Straws
• Large Bowl, Bucket, or Tub of Water

What You Do:

• Have an adult cut a cork in half lengthwise. (A serrated knife works best).
• Cut a variety of paper sails from scratch paper. You will want to cut several sails so you always have a dry sail available.
• Use a toothpick "mast" to attach a sail to the cork boat. You can poke the toothpick through the paper to attach, then poke the toothpick into the cork, using the flat side of the cork as the bottom of the boat.
• Set the boats in water and propel them by blowing through straws.
• Have races to see who can blow their boat across the water the fastest.

Variations:

• If you do not have corks available, give children heavy-duty aluminum foil to shape into boats.

Origami Water Balloons

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What You Will Need:

• Square pieces of paper
• Folding Directions
• Water!

What You Do:

• Download the folding directions (see above) to create as many water bombs as you need.
• Go outside to fill your "bombs" with water.
• Toss in the air and watch them explode on impact!

Variations:

• Try a variety of different types of paper to see which kind works best. This is a great way to recycle all that junk mail!

Sandwich Bag Water Balloons

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What You Will Need:

• Sealable or Zipper-top Sandwich Bags
• Large Bucket(s)
• Water!

What You Do:

• Fill a bucket with water.
• Dip the sandwich bag into the water to fill, and then seal the bag.
• Toss the bags back and forth like water balloons!
• Unlike regular water balloons that can only be used once, the sandwich bags can be refilled and used more than once.

Variations:

• In a clear area, see how high you can throw your "balloon".
• Have a contest with a friend to see who can throw their "balloon" the farthest.
• Draw targets on the driveway using chalk and see how many times you can hit the target with your "balloon".

Water Runs

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What You Will Need:

• Pool Noodles
• Plastic House Gutters (if you do not have this item laying around your house, you could buy one 12-foot length of plastic gutter from a hardware store and have it cut into three 4-foot lengths. The small investment is worth all the fun your children will have with this item).
• Buckets
• Squeeze Bottles (used dish soap bottles work very well, and some used shampoo bottles work well, too)
• Ping Pong Balls (optional, but fun!)

What You Do:

• Take an old plastic house gutter and cut it into a variety of lengths.
• Have an adult cut a pool noodle in half, lengthwise to form two runs. (A serrated kitchen knife works well to cut these noodles. We also prefer the bigger diameter pool noodles, as they hold more water).
• Have children set up plastic gutters and pool noodle halves to make a water run! The gutters and pool noodles can be propped up on tables, patio furniture, boxes, benches, or any other surface. Setting the gutters up perpendicular to each other makes for more exciting water runs!
• Place a bucket at the bottom of the run to catch the water, then use this water to start all over again.
• If you have Ping Pong Balls, they are fun to watch float along the water run. Or, make boats (see above) and float them along the canals.

Variations:

• If you have large diameter PVC pipe, these are fun to incorporate into the water run — they serve as tunnels for whatever you are sending along the run. Children can be very creative with these PVC pipes!
• These water runs are also fun without water! We use golf balls to roll through our contraptions for hours of outdoor fun.