Splish splash fun
Water play is truly an educational one stop shop.
Water play provides opportunities to develop fine and gross motor skills, problem-solving skills, language development, social-emotional growth, science and mathematics learning.
Different actions like pouring, squirting, scrubbing, stirring and squeezing or experiencing different textures assists with fine motor strengthening. Actioning the water pump helps to build large arm muscles!
During water play, children will use their imagination, developing creative thinking, all which plays an important role in problem-solving. Imagine, the number of words used while having fun with water and the growth of language development that happens. Basin, damp, depth, drain, flow, drenched, drizzle, sieve…to name a few!
Water play also builds the foundation for the understanding of scientific and mathematical concepts. It will introduce children to terms such as full, empty, half, less. We measure, compare volumes and observe motion. We will count cups of sand, depth of holes and notice the flow change as we move sand or create obstructions to the water flow.
The water wheel in our outdoor space is one of the most popular areas during outdoor play. Children will often drift in and out of the area collecting water for whatever play they are involved in. Some students spend great lengths of time there watching, pumping, accessing the water and carrying it to and fro. There are a lot of different ways that children can use the water wheel, with opportunities to use critical thinking to investigate and explore movement, trial and error, experiment with the flow of the water and the spinning of the wheel. It is a great way to learn and discover cause and effect. Whether the children are exploring the area individually or as a collective group, you can often observe their thinking. Some will excitedly call out to their peers, ‘look at how fast the water is going!’ while others will race to the other end of the water wheel demonstrating their curiosity as to where the water is flowing to. It takes dedication and several pumps to bring the water up from the ground. They marvel as the water comes out of the pump, how it spins the wheel, how they could stop the water with the dam and how it cascaded down the ramps.
And then other students access the water from the pump to make their potions, or ‘cook’ with. Some dig and then fill holes with water. Some are fascinated with the flow as it moves freely down our hills and paths.
We love seeing the interactions and learning that takes place when the children access water and use it in their play.
Splish! Splash! Fun!
Kristin De Vos
Head of ELC
