Just Add Water!!!

You know what always pulls our kiddos into a lesson? WATER!! It doesn't matter how we use it! We could spray it, mist it,  pour it, freeze it, splash it, or paint with it! The list goes on and on! This summer, we have been playing with water in a couple of ways.  We blew up a pool for some out door fun....

and used a small bin for some table top fun...

 Not only does it naturally provide hands-on opportunities for concept development like WET/DRY, WARM/COLD or SINK/FLOAT it also allows you to work on action words like POUR/DROP/SPILL/SPRAY/SPLASH/ SPRINKLE/STIR/ etc.

When you use water activities in an instructional manner, you can create multiple opportunities for functional communication starting at the most basic level.  We may play with water for a short while then remove it from the child's reach or put our body between the pool and the child. Whether the child is learning to point, sign single words, use a picture exchange, voice output device, single words or sentences, this creates a natural opportunity to request water play again.

We pulled some actual summer time common objects/props to toss in the pool. Items like: beach balls (of various sizes), pinwheels, bubbles, a lemon, seashells, toy fish, pretend hotdogs/ice cream/watermelon/, sunglasses, goggles etc.

We made some predictions if they would sink or float then threw them in! Using props like this make vocabulary work a breeze! The kiddos can identify and label objects as well as target semantic skills like features, functions, class and association.  Parents can easily duplicate a lesson like this at home in the back yard or even in the tub.

Looking for a color/cut/glue activity to complete with your little ones as a follow up to an activity like this?

Download it for free here!Summer Craftivity FREEBIE