Given a choice, most children will pick water play as their favourite activity, especially outdoors on a hot summer day, but most weathers will do.
Water can be presented in a variety of ways depending on the weather, the ages of the children, their interests and what their mood is at the time.
It rarely takes much preparation and, at most, only requires a mop and bucket, or a candlewick bedspread to cover the floor, a towel and a set of dry clothes. Outdoors, on a warm day, the freedom of taking clothes off for a dip or splash cannot be beaten.
While we want children to have fun and enjoy themselves, we must bear in mind the water safety issues, both indoors and out. Adult supervision is essential, as many children drown every year in garden ponds, rivers, canals and even the homely bath. Babies and toddlers, who are unstable and lack the strength to right themselves or hold their breath, can drown in as little as two inches of water. And hundreds of under-fives are admitted to hospital with severe scalding caused by over-hot bath water. So it's important to put safety high on the agenda. Once children are finished with an activity, tip out any quantity of water, whether a paddling pool, bath or simply a washing-up bowl.
Having considered the negative, let's accentuate the positive and think beyond the paddling pool for fun ways with water.
Double bubble
Commercial bubble-makers come in all sizes, from little tubs to giant bubble-blowing guns. These are fun but not always necessary. You can make your own by twisting a wire into a loop with the ends straight to provide a handle. Tape the handle for ease of holding. Bend it so that the circle is at right angles to the handle and can be dipped into a container of washing-up liquid mixed with water. Older children could even use giant bubble rings made from wire coat hangers, although these will probably have to be waved in the air rather than blown through to make the bubbles. See what happens if you make different shapes - squares, triangles, double shapes. And there's nothing like a plastic drinking straw for blowing bubbles in a container, if the child is able to blow rather than suck.
Nursery duties
A warm but breezy day is great for spring-cleaning the nursery. Fill a baby bath, bowl or bucket with soapy water and put the children to work sponging the dolls and washing their hair. They will love 'helping' you or playing 'mother' themselves. Have a second receptacle of clear water available for the rinsing. You may find that dolly has several baths and rinses before completion. If the process takes a long time, add more warm water at intervals to prevent chilling. After drying the doll with old towels, it can be wrapped up warm and placed in a pram or a cot improvised from a cardboard box. The next task, naturally, is to wash and rinse the dolls'
clothes and peg them out on the line.
Car wash
Dress up in wellies and waterproofs, and set up a toy-washing station in the garden. Pin up a large sign saying 'Toy Wash', and invite friends to join in as customers. Plastic cars, scooters, garden games or footballs, can all benefit from a wash from a bucket of warm soapy water. For the full works, add scrubbing brushes, sponges, chamois-leather, a hose-pipe if you are very brave or a bucket of clear rinsing water. Toys may end up being scrubbed, polished and rinsed several times before being deemed sufficiently sparkling.
Make a splash
On the next really wet day, leave the car behind, put on Wellington boots, waterproof coat and hat, grab an umbrella and go out for a walk. Seek out the puddles and rivulets, jump over them and splash through them, swish sticks, float leaves and build dams. On dry days, your walks can be excursions to feed the ducks on the pond or drop sticks over the bridge to play 'Pooh sticks'. When you get home, use the experiences for sharing stories. Find books about rain, sing 'IHear Thunder', or read the section in Winnie the Pooh where they play Pooh sticks.
Beat the heat
Think of all the wonderful ways of transporting water, and getting wet, on a hot summer day. Try out whatever you can get hold of - watering cans, plastic plant spray bottles, squidgy polyester-filled game balls, sponges, hose-pipe or rinsed-out washing-up liquid bottles. Throw water balls at a target. Throw wet sponges in a bucket. Use washing-up liquid bottles to squirt circles on a path to jump in and out of. Make wet footprints on the pavement. When the children are tired of these games, and wet anyway, have a water fight!
Brush work
On a cooler day you need a contained water activity. Try water painting. A toddler will love holding a plastic sand bucket containing a little water and an old 2.5cm house-painting brush. 'Painting' the wall will keep them amused for some time while developing their fine motor skills. A pre-schooler can practise mark-making or writing on the garden path, and an older child can paint hopscotch to play on the patio quickly before it dries. Unlike using real paint, spills are no problem, clothes stay unstained and there is little clearing up to do.
Kitchen sink drama
Young children love standing on a chair at the sink, sploshing soapy water around and 'doing the washing up'. A messier, but useful activity is to wash out the paint pots and brushes after an art session. If you have an old baby bath and stand, use that in the kitchen. Add a selection of non-breakable household utensils, plastic turkey baster, colander, teapot, shampoo bottles, plastic sugar shakers, funnels and tubing.
For more scientific play you could add some unusual ingredients. Drop in ice cubes or chunks of freezer ice and see what happens. Squish some melting jelly cubes, or make coloured water with food colouring.
Select a variety of objects and ask the children to guess if they will float or sink. Fill up different shapes and sizes of containers and see if the children are aware of the unchanging volume of water. If the container is tall and thin, is there more water in it than one that is short and fat?
Pet project
Around the kitchen table you can create your own pet goldfish. Using a glass mixing bowl, a clear vase or a large coffee jar, design an environment a goldfish would be happy to live in. Cover the bottom with gravel or stones and add floaty plants cut from green plastic carrier bags weighed down with a stone, and perhaps a small play building or bridge.
Fill the container with water. The adult can carve a 'goldfish' from a carrot, tie a thread around it attached to a cork and drop it in the water.
Jiggling this will encourage the 'fish' to swim. And don't forget the pet-naming ceremony.