Water Play Ideas for Toddlers and Preschoolers - Happy Hooligans

Painting Letters With Water – a Fun, Summer Learning Activity

Nicole Black — Mon, 25 Jun 2018 06:09:01 +0000

Painting with water is always a HUGE hit with kids of all ages.

The activity we're sharing today is a great way for preschoolers to learn how to print letters, numbers and their name, and it's a terrific way for older kids to practice writing, math and sight words over the summer.

Bonus: it's mess-free and it will keep the kids busy for ages!

Give it a try today!

Click the link below to see the details.

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25+ Water Play Activities for Kids in the Backyard

Jackie Currie — Wed, 13 Jul 2016 13:27:51 +0000

When the weather is this hot, it can be tough to keep kids cool AND entertained for long stretches of time.

This is when simple water bins and water activities come in VERY handy!

Whether you have one child at home, or several in a daycare setting, these activities will save the day every single time!

These 25 water activities will keep your kids entertained for hours at a time, and they're so popular and easy to set up that you'll turn to them time and time again over the summer!

I hope you love them as much as we do! Click the link below to see them all!

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Painting with Water – Outdoor Art Activity for Toddlers and Preschoolers

Jackie Currie — Thu, 28 Apr 2016 17:11:46 +0000

Do you remember doing this as a kid?

If you've never tried this activity with your little ones, you MUST!

It's so easy to set-up, it's mess-free, and it will keep your kids busy for hours. I'm betting they'll love it so much that you'll make this one of your easy go-to activities all summer long.

The best thing (aside from it being SO simple to set-up and clean-up) is that it's one of those classic activities that help to make magical childhood memories. It's stuff like this that your kids will love and remember always.

Check it out, and then put it on your must-do list for summer!

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Water Displacement Experiment for Preschoolers

Jackie Currie — Mon, 27 Jul 2015 12:00:48 +0000

This easy water displacement experiment is a fun way to show teach toddlers and preschoolers about water displacement. Using stones and a jug of water, kids will see with their own eyes how water is displaced when an object is submerged in it. It’s a terrific activity to do after reading the book The Crow and the Pitcher...

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The Easy Way to Add Running Water to your Backyard Play Space

Jackie Currie — Mon, 14 Jul 2014 03:39:29 +0000

Wouldn’t it be great if your kids had access to a water supply at the sandbox or in the mud kitchen? They can! I’m going to show you how you can add a source of running water to your backyard play space in minutes. It’s a simple solution that’s fast, easy and cheap. In fact,...

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Window Art with Foam Shapes and Water

Jackie Currie — Fri, 04 Jul 2014 03:51:44 +0000

Toddlers and preschoolers who like creating and playing with water will love this fun and easy outdoor art activity. We’re making window art with foam shapes and water. It’s simple to set up, it’s mess free, and it’s a great way to entertain the kids at home on a hot summer day. Water and windows and foam,...

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Ocean in a Bottle with 3 Simple Ingredients

Jackie Currie — Sat, 31 May 2014 05:54:30 +0000

Make an ocean in a bottle with 3 easy ingredients. One of the fastest and easiest-ever science activities for preschoolers. I love to make homemade toys for the hooligans. Discovery bottles are always a favourite here. They look so beautiful, and no matter what we fill them with. This particular ocean in a bottle has to be the...

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Playing with Coloured Water: Backyard Activity for Kids

Jackie Currie — Sun, 11 May 2014 05:00:11 +0000

This simple backyard water play activity is a super way for kids to learn about colour-mixing, to strengthen fine and gross motor skills, and it’s a terrific way for children to keep cool on a hot, summer day! This coloured water activity is one of our favourites from our collection of simple science activities for...

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Fairy Soup – Backyard Sensory Activity for Toddlers and Preschoolers

Jackie Currie — Fri, 28 Jun 2013 05:40:38 +0000

With this Fairy Soup Activity, toddlers and preschoolers can make concoctions with items from the garden, and strengthen co-ordination skills, snipping, pouring and stirring, while enjoying an afternoon of water play in the backyard. This week, keeping with our fairy theme, we headed out to garden for one of my kids’ favourite backyard activities: Fairy Soup! Making...

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Coffee Shop Pretend Play Activity

Jackie Currie — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 13:30:10 +0000

This coffee shop pretend play activity with sand, soap and water provides hours of open-ended, imaginative play for kids of all ages. It’s become one of my favourite backyard water play activities here in my home daycare. If you’ve been following us for any length of time, you know that I love setting up easy...

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Coloured Water Activity for Toddlers and Preschoolers

Jackie Currie — Thu, 30 May 2013 02:37:00 +0000

Experimenting with coloured water is a fun activity to help toddlers and preschoolers develop fine and gross motor skills, as well as a lesson in mixing. I love setting up fun and educational water play activities when the warm spring weather arrives! This colour mixing activity with water and food colouring is one of the hooligans favourite...

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Water Bin with Tubes and Funnels

Jackie Currie — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 18:44:30 +0000

If your kids love science activities and waterplay, they’re going to love this. It’s the perfect combination of both! They’ll be cool and entertained for hours in the back yard with this simple water bin with tubes and funnels. We have lots of great water play ideas here among the pages of my blog. Water...

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Polly Pool Party Water Bin

Jackie Currie — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 03:40:26 +0000

Gather up the Polly Pockets and a few simple toys, and put together a Polly Pool Party water bin for your kids! This is a great way to keep toddlers and preschoolers entertained (and nice and cool) on a hot summer day. Ours kept the hooligans entertained for ages! If your kids are like my...

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How to Make a Homemade Water Slide for Your Backyard Play Space

Jackie Currie — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 18:26:23 +0000

How to make a homemade water slide for your backyard play space using a camping tarp, garden hose and a bottle of cheap shampoo! The hooligans and I love it when the temperatures turn warm in the spring because that’s when we start in with our simple water play activities. A homemade slip and slide...

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Deep Blue Sea Activity Bin

Jackie Currie — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 03:01:32 +0000

A Deep Blue Sea Bin is an awesome small world sensory bin to set up for your kids if you’re studying an ocean theme or an underwater theme, or if you’re observing Shark Week! We’re on a roll with our water play activities this week! The weather has been so warm here, and I’ve been...

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Dinosaur Sensory Bin

Jackie Currie — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 03:37:31 +0000

The toddlers and preschoolers in my daycare love sensory bins, and they’ve really been getting into playing with our toy dinosaurs lately, so today, I made this dinosaur sensory bin for them to enjoy. It’s a combination of a small world, sensory bin and water play all wrapped up into one fun activity for kids....

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Ocean Sensory Bin

Jackie Currie — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 13:28:38 +0000

An Ocean Sensory Bin was the perfect thing for the kids to play with today. It’s been super-hot here this week, so I’ve been setting up lots of creative water play activities for the hooligans. I love to make sensory bins, and I’ve had an Ocean sensory bin in mind for a long time now. In...

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Sprinkler Fun for Toddlers

Jackie Currie — Wed, 30 May 2012 02:39:24 +0000

Sprinkler fun – keeping cool on a hot day! Oh, how we’ve waited for this day! We’ve been talking for weeks about how one of these days the weather will warm up enough that we’ll be pulling out the sprinkler again, and today, my friends, was that day! I’ll let the photos speak for themselves:My-oh-my,...

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Garden Soup – Fine Motor Water Play Activity

Jackie Currie — Mon, 28 May 2012 18:17:21 +0000

Garden soup is one of our go-to water play activities here in my daycare. You can set it up in less than a minute, and it will keep kids busy and learning in the backyard for ages. It’s great for developing scissor skills and fine motor skills, and it’s a wonderful way for toddlers and preschoolers...

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Doll Bath Station: Hours of Pretend Play for Toddlers

Jackie Currie — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:31:49 +0000

A pretend play “doll bath station” will keep your little ones entertained and cool for hours this summer! It’s one of our favourite warm-weather backyard activities. Water play activities are always a hit here in my home daycare. In particular, the toddlers and hooligans love it when I set up a baby care station for them to...

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Coloured Water Activity – A Colour Mixing Experiment for Preschoolers

Jackie Currie — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 03:15:40 +0000

This coloured water activity is easy to prep and provides lots of creative, open-ended experimenting. Toddlers and preschoolers will observe first-hand what happens when two colours mix. It’s a great first experiment for little ones, and they’ll strengthen their fine and gross motor skills too! Looking for another water play activity before the Fall weather...

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How to Make a Homemade Water Wall for Kids – Easy Play Yard DIY

Jackie Currie — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 05:26:06 +0000

A homemade water wall is a fantastic addition to a backyard play space! With a recyclables, you can make a water wall for toddlers and preschoolers to play with at home or preschool. It makes a great STEM activity, teaching kids about gravity, angles and water flow, and it’s a great water activity to keep kids...

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