Outdoor Water Play Activities for Kids

It’s summer time which means it’s time for WATER PLAY! Here are some fun outdoor water play activities that can help to develop fine motor skills, strength, hand eye coordination, gross motor skills, and visual motor skills! All activities are super easy to prep. I put all of these activities together during nap time and we were ready to play when my toddler woke up!

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Scoop and transfer with balls and muffin tin Materials: balls + muffin tin + large spoon Benefits: This activity is great for fine motor skills development, hand-eye coordination, and persistence (sometimes it can be frustrating learning a new skill). Can be a great activity to practice skills that are needed for self feeding as well (using utensils, scooping and transferring food).
Fishing with noodles  Materials and how to: noodle + piece of string/rope + pipe cleaners + the top of a plastic hanger. Cut the pool noodle into pieces, cut pipe cleaners in half and place into the noodle places to make a loop. For the fishing pole, use the rest of the pool noodle, rope, and fish hook as pictured below.  Benefits: Addresses balance, body control, and hand eye coordination. You can make this activity easier with a shorter string on the pole and harder by challenging your child to balance on one foot while fishing. This Munchkin magnetic fishing pole is a great option for younger toddlers! https://amzn.to/4aTvrni
Sponge squeeze Materials: sponges + scissors + bowls Benefits: Cut the sponges into strips or fun shapes! Kids can transfer water from one bowl to another by squeezing the sponges. Squeezing and manipulating sponges helps to strengthen grip. Using both hands simultaneously to hold and manipulate sponges enhances bilateral coordination, which is the ability to coordinate movements between both sides of the body. This skill is important for activities like buttoning clothes, tying shoelaces, and using scissors. Handling sponges and water provides kids with a sensory experience and promotes sensory exploration. This activity can also indirectly support the development of self-care skills, such as cleaning up spills or washing dishes.
Pouring station with empty containers Materials: cups + containers Benefits: Pouring is a practical life skill that kids can apply to everyday activities such as pouring drinks, transferring food, or helping with cooking and baking tasks. Engaging in pouring play prepares them for these future responsibilities by challenging fine motor skills, hand eye coordination, grip strength and control, and problem solving skills.
Wash the animals  Materials: animal figurines + mud + sponges + we used this activity table which was great for this activity! Benefits: Playing with mud is a great sensory experience for kids. This activity helps to develop fine motor skills through grasping, squeezing, and scrubbing the animals. It also teaches cleaning skills!
Painting with a roller brush Materials: roller brush + bucket + soap Benefits: Addresses balance, grip, hand eye coordination. It’s also a great sensory play activity! This was a favorite for my toddler!
Paint away chalk Materials: chalk + paint brush or cotton balls Benefits: This activity encourages functional grasp by using a small item to erase chalk, precision and control through tracing drawn lines/shapes, and helps with development of pre-writing skills. For older kids, you can make this more challenging using a thin paint brush to trace the chalk. You can draw lines, shapes, or letters!
Spray bottle races Materials: spray bottle + floating animals Benefits: This activity can help to strengthen hand muscles by squeezing the trigger of the spray bottle to push the animals across the water and aiming the spray bottle at a specific target requires hand eye coordination.

Use supervision for all water play activities!

Video of activities

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