Situation · two bowls and a towel · 2 activities
Water Play
Two activities built around water, and a second list of ones from elsewhere that work just as well wet.
Two bowls, one sponge, one towel underneath, and you are playing in under two minutes. Sponge Squeezing has a two year old soaking the sponge in the full bowl, carrying it dripping across, and wringing it out with both hands until the first bowl is empty. It is the strongest two-handed squeeze available at that age and children repeat it far past the point you expect.
The other is Water Pouring and Transfer, two small jugs and an inch of water, poured across and back and across again. Both suit two to four, and both are properly wet: the page says water on the floor because there will be water on the floor.
The setup that makes this easy rather than fraught is a tray with a lip, a towel under it, and a small cloth next to the child so wiping up is part of the game instead of the end of it. Colour the water with a drop of food colouring and a two year old will stay twice as long, because she can see what moved.
The two
Both suit two to four and both are at their best at two. Each line gives the setup, the play time and how wet it gets.
- Sponge Squeezing Your child soaks a sponge in one bowl, carries it dripping to the other, and squeezes it out with both hands until the first bowl is empty. 2 min · 5 to 10 min · household only
- Water Pouring and Transfer Your child pours water from one small jug into another, and then back again, and again, until the table is wet. 3 min · 5 to 10 min · household only
Warm water, a small jug and a low table. A full-size jug is too heavy to aim, and that is usually what turns pouring into spilling.
Activities from other shelves with a real water version
These six are written dry on their own pages, but each has a water version that is the genuine article rather than a stretch: a cup filled to the brim instead of a stack of coins to carry along the line, floating corks fished out of a bowl with the tongs, a ping pong ball blown across a tray of water, a bowl for smoothing the soap, and the watering can that is the whole daily job of the bean.
- Kitchen Tongs and Ice Tray Transfer Your child picks up a cotton wool ball with kitchen tongs, carries it across the table and drops it into an ice cube tray, twelve cups in a row. no setup · 5 to 10 min · household only
- Walking the Balance Line Your child walks the length of a strip of tape stuck to the floor, slowly, and then turns round and walks back. 2 min · under 5 min · household only
- Straw Blow Ping Pong Race Your child blows a ping pong ball across the table through a straw, and races it to a strip of tape at the far end. no setup · under 5 min · household only
- Balance Beam Coin Carry Your child walks a taped line heel to toe carrying a small stack of coins on a saucer, and discovers that the only way across is slowly. 2 min · 5 to 10 min · household only
- Plant Care and Growth Measuring Your child grows a bean from a dried one in the cupboard, waters it on a schedule that is hers, and cuts a paper strip to its height every morning. 2 min · 5 min a day, for weeks · household only
- Soap Carving and Safe Whittling Your child cuts a shape out of a bar of soap with a blunt tool, slowly, and the shavings go everywhere. 5 min · 20 to 40 min · household only