[Nursery/Kindergarten] Water play ideas that kids will love
Water play is essential in the hot summer!
Many children are probably looking forward to touching water or getting into the pool.
Through water play, we want them to grow familiar with water and fully enjoy themselves while feeling the coolness and texture on their skin.
So this time, we’re introducing water play ideas that kids will love.
We’ve gathered plenty of activities to spark their excitement: not only games you can play in the water, but also DIY water toys made from recycled materials, and sensory play using bubbles and colored water.
Since some children may feel fear or resistance toward water, please choose activities that everyone can enjoy, and adapt them to each child’s pace!
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[Nursery/Kindergarten] Water Play Ideas Kids Will Love (1–10)
Treasure Hunt
It’s a “treasure hunt” game where you search for treasures in the pool! Any item that sinks to the bottom can be a treasure.
At the start signal, dive into the pool and look for the treasures! If you only have a small kiddie pool, you can make it more challenging and fun by floating water balloons or bouncy balls on the surface to block visibility.
Prepare multiple treasures rather than just one, and set the rule that the person who collects the most within the time limit wins—this will liven things up and can also help kids get used to the water.
water balloon
When it comes to classic water play, you can’t beat water balloons.
There are so many ways to enjoy them—throwing, dropping, or using them for pretend play! How about trying a target-throwing game with water balloons? Use color-changing paper as the target and throw water balloons at it.
You win when the entire paper changes color.
You can buy color-changing paper from online stores.
Besides target practice, you can play dodgeball using water balloons as balls, or try a game where you toss a water balloon up and skillfully catch it.
Be sure to have fun with water balloons on hot days!
Colored water play
When it comes to fun summer water play, you can’t skip “colored water play”! Using paint or food coloring to tint water opens up all kinds of ways to play.
You can pour colored water into cups and pretend it’s juice, or mix different colors of colored water to make new colors.
Let kids use their imaginations and play freely! Besides paint and food coloring, it seems you can also use colored paper or water-based markers for colored water play, so if you don’t have paint or food coloring on hand, give those a try.
Be careful to make sure no one drinks the colored water, and wear clothes that can get wet while you have fun!
[Nursery/Kindergarten] Water Play Ideas That Kids Will Love (11–20)
Play with handmade toys
Let’s have fun playing with water using handmade toys! A highly recommended, easy-to-make toy that kids will love is a “water gun” made from plastic bottles.
You can make it with two plastic bottles, tape, scissors, a utility knife, and an awl.
First, cut the first bottle about one-third down from the top and keep the top part.
For the second bottle, cut it about one-third up from the bottom and keep the upper part.
To avoid cutting your hands, wrap the cut edges with two layers of tape.
Next, use the awl to make a hole in the bottle cap, then insert the first bottle upside down into the second bottle—and it’s done! There are plenty of other handmade toys you can use for water play, so if you think, “I want something like this!” be sure to look it up and try making it yourself!
Colorful Ball Pool
You can find ball pits in almost every kids’ play area.
How about recreating one by actually floating colorful balls in a pool? The bright colors are fun to look at, and if you have plenty, you could even play games like collecting only the balls of a specified color.
You can buy colored balls at 100-yen shops.
After pool season is over, you can still use them indoors for ball games or to set up an indoor ball pit.
Be sure to make use of colorful balls for water play in the summer!
soap bubble
These days, you can find all kinds of bubble toys even at 100-yen shops.
There are the classic ones you blow to make bubbles, gun-style ones that shoot bubbles, and even ones that make giant bubbles.
Since we’re talking about water play this time, how about enjoying bubbles by making your own solution instead of using a store-bought one? Bubble solution is easy to make—just mix purified water, dishwashing detergent, PVA laundry starch, and glycerin.
Make it as part of your water play, and have fun with bubbles without worrying about getting everyone wet!
Hula hoop tunnel
Let’s play “Swim Through the Hula Hoop”! Place a hula hoop in the pool and have the children swim through it.
Start with the hoop at a height where they can keep their faces above the water, then lower it so that their mouths touch the water’s surface, and finally submerge the hoop completely so they have to dive to go through.
You can also hold the hoop a little distance away from the children and, at a start signal, have them swim to see who can get through first—it’ll be fun as a race, too.
Hula hoops are easy to get, even at 100-yen shops.