The Activities for Water Play in School

Teachers can incorporate water activities in school since children love to play with water.

Water is one of the basic materials you can use to teach students the concepts of math and science, as well as enhance their motor, social and language skills. Learning becomes easy as children love to play with water whether they are at home or in school. Teachers can introduce water play as a recreational activity or a learning tool for children inside the classroom with the creative use of tubs, squirt bottles and glasses. However, teachers and adults are cautioned to monitor children carefully while playing with water. Children should be fully supervised to prevent minor accidents such as slipping from spillovers while playing with water.

Water Tubs

Find a plastic tub or any round container. Place the tub on top of the table and fill it halfway with water. Ask the children to gather around the table. Start with water only and add other playthings such as spoons, play shovels, shells and other toys. Children will be able to observe which ones float, hold water the most and which ones sink.

Squirt Bottles

Children can use squirt bottles to determine short and long squirt distances. Give each student a squirt bottle and tell them to squeeze it. They will realize that the distance of the water depends on how tight or loose they squeeze the bottle. This develops their physical coordination. They can also use the squirt bottles to draw water figures and watch them evaporate under the sun.

Water Relay

Water relay can be played outside in the schoolyard where children will have a place to run and have fun. Divide the children into two teams. Get two big water buckets and place each about 8 meters away from each other. Fill one bucket halfway with water and leave the other one empty. Have the two teams form two lines behind the empty water bucket. Give each team mini water buckets. Start the game by yelling "Go." Using the mini bucket, the first child in each team will run toward the water bucket filled with water, fill the mini bucket and dump the water in the empty bucket on the other end. The first child will turn over the mini bucket to the next child in the line, and so on until the last child in each team has taken his or her turn. Using a ruler, the teacher measures the water level in front of the teams. The bucket with the most water will determine the winning team.

Musical Glasses

A fun way to teach children about musical tones is through water. Give each student five drinking glasses and two Popsicle sticks. Fill each glass with different levels of water. Start by filling the first glass with an inch of water, the second glass with two inches of water, the third glass with three inches of water, and so on. Ask the children to tap the glasses using the Popsicle sticks. Let the children experiment and ask them to identify which glass creates the highest note and which one the lowest note. Children can also wet the tip of one of their fingers and try rubbing the rim of each glass. Ask them to listen to the different tones each glass makes. Children will soon be playing songs by tapping or rubbing the rim of the glasses.

References

• Kid Source: Learning Through Water Play
• Kid Source: Water Play: A Key to Children's Living-Learning Environment
• Creative Kids At Home: Water Chimes

Resources

• Scholastic: Math Play: How Young Children Approach Math