If you’ve spent much time here at The Stay-at-Home Teacher, you know that we have a deep love of sensory bins. Sensory play is such an amazing way to combine important fine motor skills with any other skill you can imagine! But it’s also a GREAT way to engage your kiddos! So today, I want to share some super simple sensory activities with water for little learners!
Water is THE most simple sensory bin filler! It’s simple, inexpensive, and absolutely captivating to little ones! While some of these activities have Summertime in mind, MOST of them can be done any time of the year! Let’s get going!
Pouch Lid Scoop
Can you even BELIEVE that squishy little baby in the photo?! MERCY! I’m SO glad I got this photo years ago because it was our first time to attempt a sensory bin! And this bin was a favorite for SO long! We were huge fans of the little baby food pouches, and the lids came in so handy afterwards! LG loved scooping them up and stirring her “soup”. And when it was time to begin introducing colors, this was a fun way to do so! I’d call out a color and together we’d find and scoop it out!
Bath Time
Okay, I can’t go too far into this post without mentioning my favorite water sensory activity – bath time! For us, using bath time as a sensory experience means we do it when we’re not rushed. This isn’t a scrub-and-run kind of situation. haha In our house, we call them “play baths” and LG knows exactly what we’re talking about! We throw in tons of fun water toys (or even regular toys like blocks) and let her play for as long as she wants!
I’m not going to lie. This IS a good activity for LG’s benefit. But it certainly doesn’t hurt to keep the littles entertained so you can enjoy a cup of hot coffee your own! Fortunately for us, LG’s bathroom is in the line of sight of our bedroom. So I also use this time to fold up the laundry and even bring my laptop into the bathroom to work on posts – like this one! HA!
Tea Party Water Bin
It’s tea time! Tea parties are always so much fun, and adding “real” tea (or water for us) to our parties makes them a million times more fun! LG loves getting to scoop up the water in her teapot to serve! The next time you’re having a picnic in the yard, be sure to fill up a bin of water and toss in your kiddos’ plastic tea set for a treat!
Water Beads Sensory Bin
So, this isn’t EXACTLY a water activity. But the water beads need to be prepped with water. So I think technically that should count? Ha! Regardless, water beads are a BLAST and will keep your kiddos engaged forever! You can choose from multi-colored beads like these for a rainbow bin, or purchase beads of one color like we did for our pond sensory bin!
Alphabet Water Sensory Bin
Several years ago, Target carried these adorable little alphabet sponges in their Dollar Spot! Since finding them, they’ve become a great addition to our alphabet sensory bins! For this bin, I load up a bin with soapy water and toss the alphabet sponges in! I call out different letters and letter sounds, and LG goes on an alphabet hunt for them! When she’s done with that activity, the sponges work great for our next water sensory activity!
Washing Dishes Sensory Bin
I know she won’t love doing this forever, but for now – LG LOVES helping wash dishes! Once we finish up our alphabet sponge sensory bin, I toss in some of her pretend dishes from her dramatic play kitchen and she goes to town washing them up! This is always a fun activity for us to take outside in her playhouse kitchen as well!
Other Water Sensory Activities
“Painting” on the concrete with cups of water and paint brushes
Give the baby dolls a bath!
Toy car wash
Let’s hang out!
I hope this post has given you tons of ideas for sensory activities with water for your little ones! Got some more ideas to add? Let me know! In the meantime, I’d love to chat and get to know you better! Come hang out with us in some of our favorite places!
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