If you have read the article on Bummis SWIMMI swim diapers, you would know that Vee loves playing in water. He can take 20 to 30-minute baths and still refuse to get out after that. Water play is a fun way for babies and toddlers to develop their sensory and fine motor skills.
Tools for Water Play
Many common household items and toys can be used for water play, for instance:
- Bath tub
- Portable pool
- Squirt toys
- Bath books
- Sponges
- Cloth wipes / handkerchiefs
- Bottles / containers
- Utensils (e.g. small pots, plans, ladle, funnel)
- Cutlery (e.g. soup spoon)
- Bubbles
Ideas for Water Play
There are endless ways to have fun in water. These are some of our favourites:
- Scoop and pour water: learn about capacity & gravity, improves hand-eye coordination
- Soak sponges / cloths with water and squeeze them
- Squirt water from toys: develops fine motor skill
- Talk / sing about water movements (e.g. waves), actions (e.g. pouring), temperature (warm vs. cold), feel (wet vs. dry), sound (e.g. splash, drip): enhances baby’s vocabulary and general knowledge
- Observe things that float vs. sink: learn about density
- Give toys a bath: pretend play develops creative mind
Health and Safety Tips
It is important to keep baby safe when playing with water, so note these:
- At home, direct the fan away so that baby does not catch a chill.
- At outdoors, choose the time of the day when it is less sunny, 5-7 p.m. is a good time. Avoid outdoor water play on chilly days.
- Keep eyes on baby ALWAYS
- Watch that baby does not drink play water that contains soap
- Have towels ready to wipe baby dry when he is done playing
- Have towels to wipe the floor dry to prevent slipping
Enjoy water play fun with your baby!
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Sharing Time: What other water play ideas do you have?
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Gavin also likes to play “cooking” in the bath. He has those coloured IKEA cups and bowls which we let him take into the shower and he uses the water as his “ingredients”. Sometimes he pretends other toys are ingredients – like his foam bath alphabets.
We also paint in the bath – great way to learn mixing colours (red and yellow is orange, etc.) He can use the water colours to paint the tiles.
Great ideas. Thanks! 🙂