Water trays allow for endless exploration and experimentation – splashing, scooping, pouring, floating, sinking, swishing, dripping and trickling to name a few. This is just the beginning of the new vocabulary the children will be learning as well.

Children need plenty of time to make their own predictions about what will happen when playing with water – ie when experimenting with different objects that float and sink for example.Which object will float – a sponge or a pencil? Will different sizes of containers sink faster or slower? Use containers with holes at different places and time how the water leaks.

Ideas for Playing with Water

• Use different spoons, cups and containers to scoop up the water and empty it out again. Make predictions about filling up the different sized things and on transferring the water from one container to another. Put a small sieve in the water and ask what will  happen when you try and scoop up water with it? Use sponges and talk about squeezing and squashing, heavy and light, wet and dry.

• Build clay boats, aluminium foil boats, foam boats, and experiment with how much they can they carry before sinking! Which boat goes faster when you blow on them? Have boat races with boats made out of walnut shells with paper sails, and blow away!

• Make ice cubes and watch them melt in the air, in water, in the fridge and make predictions and observe. How can you make it melt faster or slower? Put different food colouring or objects in the ice cubes and try out different techniques of making it melt faster.

• On a fine day draw a chalk ring around a puddle and keep an eye on it during the day. Where did the water go?

• How will food colouring mix with different colours of water? Different temperatures? Different densities? Make different coloured salt water. Put into water or other liquids. What happens when different liquids are mixed? Which liquid will float or sink in another.ie olive oil in water.

• Make bubbles using eco-friendly dish washing detergent and water. Experiment with different types of wands for different sizes of bubbles. Watch the bubbles floating away in the air. Why does this happen? Talk about air movement while blowing straight into the mixture with straws. Add a few drops of food colouring and use construction paper to “print” bubbles. Look for the “rainbow” in clear bubbles on sunny days to talk about light refraction

• Drop different types of liquids from an eye dropper. How do different liquids pile up on different surfaces: aluminium, glass, plastic, wood, sandpaper.How many drops of different liquids does it take to fill the same size of circle? On different types of surfaces?

• Waves can be produced in water by hitting the side of the container. Make a whirl pool in the water by moving the water clockwise with your hands. What happens to the water level when we put large objects in the water tray?

• Babies love exploring in water and can do so easily in a small water tray.

• Where does water come from? Discuss the water cycle with the children using books and videos. What happens when we heat water in a cup then put a lid on it? What happens when we breathe onto the back of a spoon? Why does this happen?