Summer activities at kindergarten: play with water in five fun ways.

All’arrivo dell’estate, non possono mancare, a scuola e a casa, i giochi con l’acqua, ecco i nostri preferiti.

Every year, when June arrives, the children are looking forward to be outside to play with water, but also this type of activity must be structured and organized, not to fall into improvisation and avoid negative consequences on the management of the group.

The five activities that I share below, are valuable because they amuse and at the same time engage the cognitive sphere, also can be presented both individually and in parallel, keeping the children engaged simultaneously, in small groups on different angles of work.

Outdoor activities for kindergarten: summer sensory table with water games.

In the sections of kindergarten that carry out activities of Montessori type, the sensory table is a very popular and sought-after corner, for this reason, I thought of reproducing outdoors this proposal already tested several times, using different materials and with a summer flavor.

The preparation of this sensory table can be done either together with children, or by adults alone, in this case it may be nice to prepare it in advance, I have chosen this last mode to offer children a surprise effect, which amazes and always works.

In the tub that we usually use, I placed waterproof recovery materials, such as plastic objects and large beads to put on and mixed them with a good number of shells, thus creating the effect of a seabed, then I added boats and containers of different types and sizes.

The combination of all these objects creates a great variety of ways to manipulate and transfer, which engages children and helps them discover that playing with water does not only mean getting wet and overturning but also allows them to experience new sensations and modes.

Offering them the double offer of water and objects to move from one container to another and from one corner to the other of the tank, you will get a long and quiet working session, in which many children will be involved and focused.

For an even more fun surprise effect, a bottle of food coloring can be added to the water, the effect is very popular with children and also gives a fragrance that amazes.

This small action also stimulates observation and the ability to ask questions and find answers:

The shell is white but under the water it becomes red, but if I pull it out it turns white...

Manipulative outdoor activity: fun washing games.

Another of the activities that take place every year at the kindergarten is the washing of the toys.

In June this activity can be carried out by the children and it can become a really fun, funny time to say it with their words.

I chose to make the Lego bricks available to children, along with small sponges and use a small amount of soap for dishes and water, directly into the plastic containers of the buildings.

Once the containers are placed at child’s height, the game can start.

In our case, the boys and girls have worked with great effort and every single brick has been brushed properly, then passed into a basin with clean water for rinsing and only at the end put to dry in the sun, over a towel.

Nothing extraordinary but this activity is always very fun and commits to respect the shared rules:

Be careful not to throw the water out of the containers, do not wet your clothes and do not wet your companions and I must say that, after some small incident, everything went well.

Summer graphic activity: painting with water and outdoor brushes.

The activity of drawing on the ground using brushes and simple water is as ever natural and, perhaps because of this, it is always a welcome discovery.

To make it, for each child, I provide a plastic cup with water and a brush to draw outdoors, on the most suitable part of flooring.

It is an unusual graphic activity, involving for the mere fact of being informal

Makes children discover the difference between drawing on sunny areas and those in the shade and allows them to collaborate and interact.

To make this proposal last for a long time, it will be enough to have available a jug with which to integrate the water in the different glasses, then experiment with it, you will see that children will soon discover a fun variant, which is to draw on vertical surfaces.

Soap bubbles with food coloring: play and print.

Soap bubbles are always very popular for the sense of lightness and for the effect they create.

For our variation, we used water, a small amount of dish soap, food coloring, straws, glasses or containers and a plastic cloth to play on.

I gave each child a container with water, a straw and some drops of soap for the dishes.

The request is to blow in the straw to create the effect of bubbles and for this reason, you must be careful not to propose this activity to children who are not yet able to distinguish between the action of blowing and that of sucking, because they may accidentally ingest the liquid.

So if there are children in your group who are not yet ready to perform this activity, alternatively you can suggest that they wash Lego bricks or other toys, to involve them safely.

For everyone else, after creating a good amount of bubbles in their container, the liquid can be shared, pouring it on a plastic sheet or in larger containers, where it will be more fun to play together and where you can also use sheets of paper, to be placed lightly on the colored bubbles, to print and leave a trace of the activity carried out.

Montessoriani decanting with tubes, funnels, bottles and small objects:

a game for the summer.

A variant of the sensory table with water, seen earlier, is that which involves the use of tools to convey water such as: flexible pipes, small portions of rigid tubes, Bottles of various diameters cut above and below so as to form a channel and then all the containers suitable for spraying and squeezing, such as dispensers for sauces, droppers or whatever your imagination suggests.

On the market there are also constructions similar to tubes to be embedded, which are perfect for this game but, as always I resort to recovery and reuse

also to make children touch with hand as the objects of common use, can have a second life.

This proposal is very stimulating and challenging, it leads children to experiment and to find different ways to operate and for this reason, it can last a long time and be repeated several times.

The only drawback is that children may get wet or wet their partners because of the manipulation and testing of tools and materials; For this reason it is good to provide that a change of clothes may be necessary.

All the activities of the type proposed here can be easily reproduced at home or at the beach, where it will be easier to carry out them directly in costume,

A simple basin or bucket, some containers and some recovery items will be enough to spend fun hours with the children.