Cheap activity of the day

[Dreamalittledream]

Old bucket, water...bunch of my sons bath squirt toys. Amused them all (6 little ones aged 1 to 4) for a good hour outside. And that's saying ALOT! almost as good as the stash of plastic party cups & spoons I found...they filled and dumped those things for hours. Gotta love those cheap ideas! Care to share yours?

[apples and bananas]

That's a great idea... but I have to ask. What did you do with the 6 wet kids when they were all done?

[Dreamalittledream]

That's a great idea... but I have to ask. What did you do with the 6 wet kids when they were all done?

Ha ha ha! Surprisingly, they weren't all that wet! I was totally anticipating a bucket dump or two...but nope, they hadn't thought of that one (yet!).

[Inspired by Reggio]

Oh I love this time of year for outside water play!

'Garden' Squirt bottles for Dollar store and they squirt the plants, fence, sidewalks and occasionally each other.

Cheap 'wall style' paint brushes and buckets and they paint the fence, deck, shed and occasionally each other.

I have 3 of the Rubbermaid 'gift wrap size' bins I use for sensory and at this time of year fill them all with water and various accessories that they 'stand' at to explore - their favorite is colored ice cubes of various sizes to watch melt.

I put the sprinkler on my lower deck because I hate how wet/muddy they make the grass and the deck does not get nearly as slippery as the grass does when hopping through them ... and the water soaks down to the grass eventually just from the roots up

If they do not have their bathing suits here yet than with water play I generally have a 'keep the water where it belongs - in the bucket, pointed at the fence/plants and keep your clothes dry' rule for it and than I will stop the water play if they are getting TOO wet with it cause they are too excited and let them 'air dry' again before inside time.

If I anticipate them getting soaked - aka if I have big 'bins' of water play or the sprinkler out I change them into bathing suits before we go out - and line up all their dry clothes and some towels at the side door and than stop the water play and we dry up for a bit and than I charge them one at a time back into their clothes until they are all good to go for lunch or if it is the end of the day I leave em go until parent comes and we change em and send em home - I keep their suits and water shoes here all summer and choose to do the laundering and so forth so I am sure to always have what is needed - little anal that way

[sunnydays]

I used Reggio's idea yesterday and got a big bucket of soapy water and some cloths and the kids washed the ride on cars and the play structure...that kept them busy for an hour...although the little ones did eat some soap! Today we'll do non-soapy water in buckets and I'll put them in their swim suits and let them get wet with the sprinkler as well...it will be the afternoon, so I'll keep their clothes outside and the parents can dress them before going home if they wish.

[Lou]

Fun! Not as cheap as your idea, but we did shaving foam mixed with finger paint, paintbrushes and muffin tins!

[Play and Learn]

Haven't done this yet with my kiddos but plan to....when my cousins and I were younger, our grandparents gave us sponges, old paint brushes, and buckets of water. We 'washed' the shed and the fences! lol It was soooo much fun - I guess we had an amazing imagination! lol

Today, they just dumped water on my plants, and on themselves. And because we don't have a sprinkler anymore (I guess it broke?), I just sprayed them with the hose when they came running by! They LOVED it! They are the ages of 20 months, 23 months, 2 yrs and 3 yrs.

BUT....I'm pooped!

[Momof4]

Yesterday I squirted some dish soap in my outside water table and by the time we came inside I had to strip down 4 out of 5 children and wash up their faces, hands, legs & feet due to mud smears. But the bubbles lasted over an hour until I dumped it.

Today we went to a park nearby and it was sooooo hot so I filled a spray bottle from the dollar store with plain water and let them spray each other to cool off. They had a blast.

[mom-in-alberta]

I love summer.




(That is all)

[ChloeG]

I really love the idea! As you've said, cheap but sounds fun.