Last month we joined in with the outside play – chalk party and enjoyed it so much that we have joined in again. This month we are cohosting a Outside Play – Water party.
I love water – I’m a water baby and so are J and T. So last year when T was only 5 months old and J coming up to 2 we were asked what to get J for his birthday and the top of the list – a water table. I’ve seen some gorgeous DIY one’s and indoors we use the old baby bath for water play – however for outside I wanted one that was purpose built and we could add sand etc… with.
Adding warm water to a water table means that you can have water fun year around in the garden
Water is such an important part of our outdooor play that we have used the water table year around. In the winter I filled it with warm water and J and T played in it. As Spring and Summer (I believe we’ve had a few days) we have added water and I just leave J and T to play in it – free play is vital for children and this is one thing that I can guarantee that they will play happily at for hours.
Adding different toys – like boats, water wheel, watering cans changes the way that toddlers and preschoolers play with the water table
I’ve seen it be used as a pirate lake, had sand and mud added to it in a mud making experiment or so J told me he was doing, used to make cake with stones, sand, grass and daisies and just played with. T loves filling up containers with the water and then pouring it out again.
We added bubble mix to the water and made it frothy to look like the white horses on waves and then our water table became a sea with large tug boats
It’s such a simple thing and yet it’s being one of our best presents and I can just see the imaginative play get more intricate as they both get older.
My amazing co-hosts are JDaniel4’s Mom, Two Big Two Little, Inspiration Laboratories, Train Up a Child, and Mama Pea Pod.
Please come and link up your water play posts to the linky below:
WordPress.com
JDaniel4's Mom
We love our water table too! It looks like they had a wonderful time playing!
mum of all trades
This looks like such a great buy, they love nothing better than messing with water. Lovely photos too.
Allison
I couldn’t agree more about free play! Great post, and such a great toy for open ended play.
amber
We love the water table too , great linky idea!
Trisha @ Inspiration Laboratories
I love all of the play ideas at the water table.
Emma @mummymummymum
We have that water table ! xx
Rebekah @ The Golden Gleam
Water play is a favorite at our house. I have always wanted a water table, but we make do with trays of water. In fact, Miss E was playing for over an hour with a tray of water and her animals outside.
Thank you for sharing at the Outdoor Play Party!
Jen
Hi, what model is that Step 2 table? The ones I’m seeing are quite a bit smaller! Thanks.