Water

Water play

Water is fun! Children can engage in water play, science experiments, or watering their garden. On rainy days, children can put on their gumboots and dance outside.

Extend an interest in water by learning about oceans and rivers and lakes.

EYLF learning outcomes

Water play links with the Early Years Learning Framework. Water is a natural material (4.4) that provokes curiosity, imagination, creativity (4.1), problem solving, inquiry, experimentation, hypothesising, researching and investigating (4.2).

Water conservation is also an important component of sustainability education. Children can learn to be socially responsible and show respect for nature (2.4).

Learning experiences

Add ingredients to water

Add food colouring to water play experiences. Set up several troughs of water in different colours. Allow the children to combine the water gradually, to create new colours.
Experiment by adding different substances to water, without worrying about the end result. Ask your cook for out-of-date food products like oil, rice or flour.
Add detergent to make bubbles.
Add sand and dirt to water play experiences. Make mud!
Mix flour petals, leaves, seed pods, herbs from your garden, or slices of orange and lemon.

Add light to water

Place water in transparent containers so children can observe the water from all angles. Water looks incredible when you can see light shining through it.

Shine torches into water.
Play with glow sticks in water.
Hang fairy lights behind an aquarium filled with water.
Consider purchasing waterproof lights that children can submerge under water.
Place child-safe mirrors on the bottom of a water trough.

Change the temperature

Vary the temperature of your water between very warm and frozen. Add a chunk of ice into a water trough on a hot day.

Use tools in water

Transfer water between containers of different sizes and shapes. Children will learn that water takes the shape of the container it's in.
Squeeze water from sauce bottles and shampoo bottles.
Pretend to cook with water. Provide soup ladles, teaspoons, whisks, coffee plungers, measuring cups, jugs, juicers and strainers.
Strain water through nets, mesh and pieces of fabric.
Fill spray bottles with water.
Paint only using water. Almost anything can be your canvas.
Add funnels, pipes and plastic tubing. Make your own funnel by cutting the bottom off a soft drink bottle. Run water down your marble run.
Add toys like plastic sea creatures.
Measure water with rain gauges, measuring cups, eye droppers, rulers and thermometers.

Manipulate water

Push down submerged objects with your hands.
Scoop water into a container.
Drip water slowly or pour it out fast.
Shake water in a bottle.
Strain water.
Splash, smack, stomp, flick, sprinkle and glide through water.

Float objects in a bucket

Provide children with a deep bucket of water and ask them to find small objects. Guess whether each object will float or sink. Test each object out. Which one would make a great boat?

Observe water evaporation

Place water in a clear container and mark the water level on the outside. Leave it on a sunny shelf for a few days and observe how the water level drops below the original mark, even if nobody interferes with it.

Play with a sensory pond

Create a small world for children to play with. Fill the bottom of a large trough or bowl with water and add a few drops of blue food colouring. Add loose parts and toys so the water looks like a pond:

Floating leaves or "lily pads".
Plants or reeds growing in the water.
Coloured gems (green or blue).
Pebbles or rocks.
Logs, wooden rounds or sticks.
Small items that float, like corks.
Toy frogs, fish, ducks or insects.

Become water conservationists

Read the book The Waterhole by Graeme Base and discuss the importance of conserving water.
Read tips on reducing water use in your home from the Australian Government. Can you use any of these ideas within your early childhood centre?

Learning environments

Add water to your play spaces

Look at the various indoor and outdoor play spaces at your early childhood service. What would happen if you added water to each one? Of course, water doesn't mix with everything, but you could be missing opportunities:

Pour water on a wall or fence so it falls down vertically. Attach plastic tubing and soft drink bottles to the wall. Can you make water flow through them?
Trickle water down your slide.
Look for places to channel or hold water, so children can explore with their feet and hands. Can you make puddles for children to sit in? Can you make a creek in your sandpit?
Look for ways to transport water around your play areas. Is there a hose, a wheelbarrow or watering cans? How can children access water independently (in appropriate amounts, and at appropriate times)?
Are you capturing and utilising rainwater? Where can children play on rainy days?

Discussions

Where does water come from?
How can water change?
What is it used for?
How can we ensure we don't run out of water?
How can we use less water?