• Home
  • Blog
  • Start Here!
  • Free Printables
  • About
    • Products we love & Support
    • Contact
    • Terms of Use
    • Disclosure
  • My eBook
  • Subscribe

Wildflower Ramblings

Home education resources and encouragement for moms & caregivers

  • Homeschool
    • Kindergarten
    • Charlotte Mason Method
    • Reggio Emilia Approach
    • Montessori Learning
    • Waldorf at Home
    • Classical Conversations
    • Early Literacy Stages Series
    • Curriculum choices
      • Tot School (2 years)
      • Preschool (3 years)
      • Pre-Kindergarten (4 years)
      • Pre-Kindergarten (4 years – 2017)
      • Preschool (5 years)
      • Kindergarten (5 years)
      • Kindergarten Homeschool: a gentle and slower year
      • kindergarten secular curriculum suggestions (free printable)
      • First Grade (6 years)
      • Charlotte Mason Schedule: Year One
      • First Grade in our Charlotte Mason Homeschool
      • Charlotte Mason Homeschool: Second Grade Curriculum
      • Third Grade Homeschool Curriculum
      • Third Grade in our Charlotte Mason Homeschool
      • Charlotte Mason Homeschool: Fourth Grade Curriculum
      • Fifth Grade Homeschool Curriculum
    • 12 Months of Sensory Dough
    • Sensory Play
    • Bible Crafts & Bible Cards
    • Practical Life Ideas
    • Before Five in a Row – ISH
  • Baby
    • Montessori Baby Room
    • Treasure Bins for Baby
    • 21 Activities for One Year Olds
  • Tot School
  • Preschool
    • What is Number Sense?
    • ABC Felt Animals
    • Preschool Alphabet Book
    • Our Preschool Notebook
    • Preschool Circle Time Schedule
    • Free 24 Preschool Chants
    • Free Preschool Songs
    • Our Preschool Plans
  • ABC
    • Letter A
    • Letter B
    • Letter C
    • Letter D
    • Letter E
    • Letter F
    • Letter G
    • Letter H
    • Letter I
    • Letter J
    • Letter K
    • Letter L
    • Letter M
    • Letter N
    • Letter O
    • Letter P
    • Letter Q
    • Letter R
    • Letter S
    • Letter T
    • Letter U
    • Letter V
    • Letter W
    • Letter X
    • Letter Y
    • Letter Z
  • Toys & Resources
    • 20+ Tools for Hyperactivity
    • What is Sensory Processing?
    • Best Workbooks & Readers {Ages 2-5}
    • Essential Preschool Tools
    • Essential Craft & Homeschool Tools for Mom
    • Best Art Utensils for Kids
    • Bible Resources for Kids
    • Our keeping and recording memories series
  • Health
    • Online Safety Resources & Safe Links
    • Herbal Remedies
    • The home birth of my son
    • The water birth of my daughter
    • her waterbirth
    • When your baby has a fever
    • Example of Hospital Birth Plan {free printable!}
  • Books
    • My Book Store
    • Free Phonics Readers
    • Early Literacy Stages eBook
    • Books for Children
    • Pop! Squirt! Splash! eBook
    • Learn with Play Book
You are here: Home / Uncategorized / Outdoor water play is learning time

Outdoor water play is learning time

Several months ago, before I began an official “Tot School” with my now-33 month old son, I began learning about Maria Montessori.  She taught that our children learn based on their individual needs and interests.   All we, as parents and educators, must do is give our children the tools and their minds will help them learn.

We can teach them based on four core areas of learning:

  • Practical Life: Preliminary exercises (pouring, opening bottles, using tongs), care of the environment (sweeping, mopping, washing), care of the person (buttoning, zipping, brushing), grace and courtesy (introductions, excuse mes, offering help)
  • Sensorial: Utilizing all senses for learning and understanding
  • Language: Literacy is reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing, and representing at the child’s pace
  • Mathematics: Promoting sense of numbers through learning materials

My first dive into practical life activities began when I let my son have a teapot full of water in our kitchen.  He was so excited to work on the preliminary exercises of pouring and stirring and transferring.  I didn’t realize that these are valuable life skills that all children deserve to learn — and children love water which is sensory learning as well.

Water play is even more fun outside of the bathtub! And water play is easy to assemble.  All your child needs are some supplies from the kitchen.  Bowls, cups, pitchers, spoons, strainers, any other containers that have been cleaned and rinsed.  I love to do sensorial play — with shaving cream, fluffy stuff, and other fun (and messy!) options — but this sensory play time is as easy as changing their wet clothes — and it is free!

We took our learning outside last week, and he had a blast.

DSC05066

Filling an old jam-squeeze plastic container and learning about water displacement.

DSC05075

Squeezing and pouring.

DSC05070

Filling his container again.

DSC05067

Transferring water from one bowl to the other.

DSC04894
Stirring his water and more displacement science learning.

DSC04897

What could be more fun than dumping water everywhere?

DSC04907

For more structured water play ideas, check out Teaching Mama‘s latest post on Water Activities.

Have you tried simple water play?  How have you taught your child practical life skills?

Amy writes at Wildflower Ramblings, a homeschooling and healthy living blog she started when she became a mother.  Amy obtained her Masters in Elementary Education from the University of Michigan and is a former Kindergarten teacher.  She lives with her husband and almost-three year old son and eight month old daughter, and all three are the loves of her life.  You can find Amy on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest.  

Related Posts

  • Essential oils for natural immunityEssential oils for natural immunity
  • Edible Snow DoughEdible Snow Dough
  • Our charlotte mason homeschool  with a gentle feast curriculumOur charlotte mason homeschool with a gentle feast curriculum
  • best homemade playdough recipebest homemade playdough recipe
« hammering flower prints
Treasure Bin: Yellow Wooden Objects »


Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Connect

Amy is a former Kindergarten teacher, M.Ed., turned homeschooling mom. Sharing her imperfect life and her love of teaching & learning, reading, herbal remedies, parenting and more.
Read More →

Search

follow

I heard about Wim Hof “Iceman” from a convention last June. Simple and free ways to improve my health, yes please!
Happy Monday friends! I'm so glad I can brighten your Monday with another giveaway!
Who else is enjoying the beautiful snow?! My son found Narnia! ✨ #snow #childhood #family
Did you know that we have a FULL tab dedicated to alphabet resources? This is a gold mine for any parent who is ready to start teaching the alphabet. There are plenty of articles on teaching techniques and activities for every single letter! Head over to the blog and click the ABC tab today!
Happy Monday friends! I'm so excited to share a copy of this lovely book with one of you.
Art is not something I’m familiar with. Growing up, I thrived in theater and music, but never art. Unfortunately, I always felt like “I wasn’t good” or “that’s not my thing.” I’m sad about this! Since homeschooling my children, I’ve come to realize that I’m indeed a wonderful artist!! I can draw plants and bumblebees and even an octopus! I just need a bit of time, good materials, and a good teacher.

<script>” title=”<script>
<script>

banner-001

Favorite Posts

1legos 1quiet memories 1act 1chants 1closet hyp note classical dots 15act 1reggio 1turtle 1around 1bible1 sidebar bible1 crafts reggiomath essentialoils print

Note

Unless otherwise stated, all words and photos on this blog belong to Wildflower Ramblings. You may pin from my site, but do not use a photo, or any text, without my permission. All content is copyrighted. This is a for profit blog. I use affiliate links on the sidebars and in posts. I only share products that I love and enjoy with my family. If you purchase a product through an affiliate link, I receive a small commission. Occasionally, I will receive products free of charge and share them here.  Words and opinions expressed will always be my own. Please email me with questions or comments. Thank you for visiting. Amy Smith, M.Ed. wildflower ramblings @ gmail . com

instagram

I heard about Wim Hof “Iceman” from a convention last June. Simple and free ways to improve my health, yes please!
Happy Monday friends! I'm so glad I can brighten your Monday with another giveaway!
Who else is enjoying the beautiful snow?! My son found Narnia! ✨ #snow #childhood #family

Facebook

Facebook

More

Categories

Archives

search

Copyright © 2023 · Wildflower Ramblings [footer_backtotop] · Genesis Framework · WordPress