Science
SensoryToddlers22 Comments
I’ve been revisiting old activities again, doing them with Louis this time. George and Henry have both enjoyed transferring colored water.
This water activity is a no-brainer, no fail, and lots of fun!
This time, we took the water outside because it was a crazy nice day for April! You could set this up inside though, in the sink or bathtub, or on the floor with a shower curtain or towels laid out.
I filled two tubs with water and added food coloring to each. One with blue and one with yellow.
See it in action and join the conversation here.
You could add the third primary color (red) if you’d like to practice mixing all the primary colors.
I chose not to because I really wanted this to just be open-ended play and not about the color mixing. That was just a secondary surprise for Louis.
Also, if I had included red as well, all three mixed together would end up with brown water and that’s just no fun at all!
I made sure to set out a third, empty tub for Louis to scoop and pour the colored water into.
I set out scoops to transfer the water, including an ice cream scoop (which ended up being his favorite), measuring spoons, a can strainer and a larger mug.
Louis immediately saw the color change!
He’s just excited to name colors at this stage so it was really fun when he screamed GREEEEN!!!!
I had thought that he would end up just dumping the tubs into the big one, but he didn’t! I was surprised! (The other kids did that immediately!)
Louis patiently scooped one at a time.
I also thought he would use the big mug as a big scoop.
Instead, he decided he needed to put the water in that too and he made green with that too!
It was a wonderful activity for a wonderfully nice day. It sat out for most of the afternoon.
Louis played with it for quite awhile, took a break and rode his big wheels around and came back and scooped and poured more water. Back and forth.
Want more water play activities?
- Try washing toys in a tub of soapy water.
- Or just make bubbles!
- Try tracing lines of chalk with water.
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Racquel says
My boy is not 2 yet, but he acts like a three year old, intelligent for his age so i plan try these with him in the afternoon after his nap
Stacey says
Filling squirt bottles with the primary colors and taking them out in the snow is one of our favorite winter activities!
Lindsey says
I did this activity because my daughter love water!
Shari says
I have a quick question because I am an over thinker. lol I’m concerned about the dye staining clothes. Is that not an issue because it is so diluted? I’m looking at ideas for my child care but I would hate to ruin everyone’s clothing.
Tabitha Lightfoot says
Hi Shari! We’ve never had troubles with it staining clothes – it doesn’t take much to color the water. You could always get some old shirts for them to wear over their clothes to protect them.
Selena says
I decided to try this out with my 2 year old son because I’ve been looking for easy to set up sensory activities while helping my 2nd grader with his school work. This was so easy to set up on our back deck and he loved it! This was also a perfect quiet activity after he woke up from a nap. I didn’t have primary colors, but the orange and aqua I had made green when mixed together.
Sami says
What a fun and easy idea! I know my 2 year old will love this. We are going to try it today. It’s rainy and cold out so it’ll be an inside activity but that’s okay. I’m going to put down a towel and let him have at it! Thanks for the idea :-)
Mary says
This activity is so simple, yet so much fun. My 22 month old granddaughter spent all morning playing with the colored waters. I added a large paint brush and she happily “painted” her ride -on car, the side of the house and the ground. Thank you for this great idea.
MaryN says
Ghammie here says always go with the simple supplies ?Children will lead themselves in play . 5 hearts to water play
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Nicola - Multicraftingmummy says
Playing with water is so simple yet can amuse kids for hours. My 3 year old daughter loves to mess around in water mixing, pouring and spashing. It is a really good activity to bring out when she is feeling a bit cranky as water has a really calming effect of her. Thanks for linking this up over on Family Frugal Linky. Hope to see you over there again tomorrow.