Water-Play Wednesday: Spicing Up the Sprinkler Park

Yes, that's my son holding a plastic shot glass! The first time I took him to a sprinkler park this summer, he was too nervous to get in. Giving him a little cup to hold, fill and pour out helped him feel more comfortable and led to a lot of playful fun!

During our summer routine, I aim to include at least one day a week where we do some water play. We are fortunate enough to live in an apartment complex with a pool and near several wonderful sprinkler parks. Water play is an absolute must for this mama every summer (and admittedly, I find ways to incorporate it indoors either in the bathtub or a shallow plastic bin during the colder months as well). Playing in water is one of those things that just never stops being fun no matter how old you are. I still love running through sprinklers! Being a play-at-home-mom and the summer schedule of a school teacher are definitely conducive to running on a less specific schedule, but getting out of the house is still important both for my son and for me. We live in an area with a lot of low cost/no cost activities for children and families in the summer provided by our parks & recreation department and our library system. More and more sprinkler parks are cropping up these days and they are a wonderful place to take a family field trip. If you don't happen to live near one, I have plenty of wonderful summer memories of running through the hose or sprinkler in my own backyard as a child.

Sprinkler and splash pad play really require no added materials to be fun. That said, I like to spice things up a bit by mixing in some usual and unusual household materials for my son to use and share with other kids at the park. Think of it as instant play activities: just add water! And you can do this at a sprinkler park, in your yard, in the bathtub or pool or water table.

Our Favorite Sprinkler Park Add-ons: Just Add Water!

Household Items: These are items you likely have at home already or that can be purchased from a discount store very inexpensively specifically for sensory play use.

Sprinkler Park Car Wash--great for transportation theme

• cups, containers, things you can fill and pour from
• colanders/strainers
• measuring cups & measuring spoons
• large paint brushes & sponge brushes
• scrub brushes and sponges
• recycled plastic containers from produce (the ones with holes in the bottom can be especially fun!), pudding cups/applesauce cups/fruit cups
• spray bottles
• empty condiment bottles for filling/squirting

Toys: Using water-friendly toys you already have at home or building a collection from second-hand stores or discount stores specifically for sensory play can be a great way to expand water and other sensory play activities. There are a host of "traditional" water and bath toys on the market and a lot of them crop up on the seasonal aisles this time of year. Here's a list of less traditional toys that are fun to add to the water play scene:

• toy cars and sponges make a great car wash--you can even add shaving cream for suds!
• plastic animals or plastic dinosaurs
• plastic baby dolls and washcloths
• Legos/Duplos or Mega Blocks--if building towers indoors on dry land is fun, think how fun it will be in the sprinkler outside!
• Balls, plastic bowling sets
• Plastic food and toy dishes--outdoor tea party, anyone?
• shovels/pales and toys traditionally used in sand are also fun to explore in water

Miscellaneous: Let's think outside the box with this one and include some natural materials, too!

• Craft foam makes an instant bath sticker when wet! You can stick them to the walls, you can stick them your belly, you can stick them on your friend's belly. You can use pre-cut shapes or cut your own. Foam puzzle pieces work the same way (Think: alphabet scavenger hunt at the sprinkler park!)
• Seashells
• Rocks and large pebbles

If you can get it wet and easily transport it, you can bring it with you! Note: we use a large bucket or wash bin to transport materials in and it almost always ends up getting used for play as well. Stay cool and happy playing!