Outdoor water play is beneficial for the early years of learning and development of children, so it’s important to set up outdoor water activities as regularly as possible, or better still, incorporate it into children’s daily routine.
The possibilities are endless for water play, as children can get creative. That’s why it’s important to encourage children to use their imagination and have fun.
One of the advantages of this activity is that children tend to stay focused and enjoy playing with water for longer periods of time, meaning their skills are developing whilst they are having fun.
Great combo!
Therefore, the longer children are engaged in water-based activities, the further some of their skills will develop. This will help to prepare them for the next stages of learning.
This post will outline exactly what outdoor water play is and how it can benefit children’s development in areas such as communication, creativity, concentration, and cognitive development.
Let’s dive in.
What is Outdoor Water Play?
Outdoor water play is any activity that involves children getting creative with water, using tools and different containers to scoop and splash, allowing them to explore their senses.
Outdoor water play in particular provides a multitude of learning and development opportunities for children in their early years, as it provides hours of rich and valuable educational experiences.
Children are able to explore and learn, as water play involves playing with containers, toys, and tools to measure, move, and get creative with water.
Possible Equipment for Outdoor Water Play.
The water used for this activity is usually contained in one of the following:
- water trough
- inflatable paddling pool
- sandpit
- bucket
- water table
All of these can be used outdoors to help facilitate children’s learning and development while discovering and exploring what water can do.
The container should always be the right height for children to stand next to while they play, or low enough if children wish to immerse themselves in the water as this can be therapeutic and calming.
Outdoor water play is a great way to engage with children, especially on warm summer days, to get them to explore nature in the fresh air. A word of warning if you are doing this at home though- always make sure your child has sunscreen protection, even if they are in the water.
Once you have set up a water trough or blow-up paddling pool, and provided various containers and toys, children will be engaged and reap the benefits as they play.
At the Hunny Pot Nursery, we understand how important it is for children to take part in a range of activities to help them develop in a fun and stimulating environment. Our nursery provides outdoor classrooms that make it easy and fun for children to play, explore, and learn about the world around them.
Why not come and take a look for yourself?
What are the Top 10 Benefits of Outdoor Water Play?
Outdoor water play helps children to run wild with their imagination, as they can create games and role-play scenarios, as well as learn simple maths and science facts to build on their early years’ knowledge.
There are multiple benefits of outdoor water play, as different activities can provide children with different skills in different learning areas, from numeracy and science experiments to communication and physical development.
Some exercises will help children to physically develop as they use different muscle groups, whereas other exercises will help children to understand the importance of sharing toys and taking turns with their peers.
With that being said, let’s get into the top 10 benefits of outdoor water play for children.
Emotionally Therapeutic
Due to the regular lapping sounds, and slow and steady motion of water, activities including water can be very soothing and relaxing for children.
This motion and rhythm allow children to lose themselves while playing with water due to the gentle repetition. They can also relax as they pour, scoop, and feel the water running through their hands.
This gives them the space, time, and environment to order their thoughts and relax in water play, as water is an adaptable and imaginative resource, which means children can let their minds run free.
Outdoor water play is also a great way for children to release their tension or frustrations if they are feeling upset or angry, as actions such as squirting water or splashing help to release some of this built-up energy.
Develops Fine and Gross Motor Skills
Actions such as scooping and pouring water have multiple benefits, particularly when it comes to helping children develop their fine and gross motor skills.
As children hold onto smaller containers such as sieves, small watering cans, or cups, this helps to build up their natural grip. Then, as they scoop and pour water with these containers, their timing and movements can also become more refined.
Children will have to use their bigger muscles to improve on their gross motor skills, for example they may be filling containers with water and lifting them from one area to another. This can be tough for young children, so encourage them to start small and build up to bigger containers when their muscles have developed a little more.
With motor skill development comes hand-eye coordination, which will benefit how children develop their accuracy and control when filling and emptying containers.
This will enhance children’s confidence in completing tasks including water, as with practice, they are more likely to be cautious and take actions slower when lifting water to pour it into another container.
Builds Language and Communication Skills
As children play together or with their caregivers, they discover new vocabulary in different types of play.
Due to the wide variety of activities available within outdoor water play, children will be excited to share their new discoveries which helps to boost their confidence.
For example, children may feel more comfortable taking part in different role-play situations and begin to incorporate new vocabulary into conversations about water and the way it looks and moves.
These role-play situations may be a family day at the beach or a scientist doing an experiment, both of which help to get children talking about what they’re doing and how the water is involved.
This allows them to discover a new set of vocabulary and practice these words out loud in groups, stringing sentences together to communicate what they mean or what is happening next in their role-play situation.
This vocabulary may involves words such as:
- drip
- flow
- drizzle
- drain
- pour
- scoop
In turn, this allows children to explain what they are doing and the actions they are carrying out during play, as before being introduced to water play, they may not have understood these terms and how they fit into sentences.
Encourages Creativity and Imagination
Outdoor water play should most importantly be fun for children in the stages of early years learning.
This is because this activity stretches children’s imagination and there are no rules when it comes to what type of play children can engage in.
For example, when faced with a large container of water, the possibilities are endless! After all, this container could be the sea, or the setting for their next big adventure.
It’s totally up to the child, and that’s the great thing about this activity.
Water is an adaptable form of play as children can scoop and pour water from container to another for long periods of time without limitations.
Water can be presented and used in so many different ways, so it’s important to allow children that sense of freedom, as this also helps to develop their decision-making skills.
By providing an opportunity for choice, children can make up their own minds on how they wish to play with the water which helps them to become more confident in their own ability.
Builds Physical Strength
Outdoor water play can help to develop physical strength in children as well as motor skills, particularly when children immerse themselves in the water.
Children may wish to climb into the water container and have a splash around, or perhaps just put their legs or arms in; either way this needs to be done in a safe and supervised way.
Providing children with armbands and floats even if they aren’t getting into the water, is a great way to ensure they feel safe when engaging in outdoor water play.
Muscle groups can be built upon when children lift containers of water, kick their legs or splash with their arms, as they are moving their body parts through the water using their own strength.
Even simple actions such as reaching to the bottom of the water trough to collect a toy helps to build upon muscle groups, whilst children are relaxed and focused on the activity.
Develops Sensory Skills
Outdoor water play allows children to explore new substances as well as engaging in activities involving water.
Children can make new discoveries by being provided with materials such as:
- sand
- a bar of sensitive soap
- paper
- sponges
All of these substances create new sensory experiences for children as the textures change in and out of water.
For example, by mixing sand together with water, children will begin to understand the difference in textures, and experiment with mixing materials together to see what happens.
It is important to demonstrate these changes in texture to children by showing them what will happen first, before letting them try for themselves.
Improves Scientific Knowledge
Outdoor water play can benefit children’s scientific knowledge, as there are some activities that allow them to begin to learn simple physics concepts.
This includes learning that:
- water makes sand heavier
- water can change the texture of sand or flour
- the wind can move water
- water flows downhill
- water can be moved from container to container
To enhance children’s knowledge about the properties of water, it is a good idea to include water experiments into outdoor water play, so children can grasp these concepts early on.
For example, providing children with objects that either sink or float such as a cork, a bar of soap, crayons, or a piece of paper and asking them to guess what they think each object will do before putting it into the water.
Develops Concentration
As we mentioned earlier, children can get lost in water activities as they spend a lot of time focused on one area of play.
This is another benefit as the longer children spend on one activity or task, the more developed their attention span will be, which in turn, improves their concentration.
For example, providing children with toys and containers, or a water trough that has several different water channels, leaves it up to children to create their own activities.
This concentration development will benefit children in an educational sense, as when they reach a classroom setting, they will be able to concentrate on activities for an extended period of time.
Promotes Cognitive Development
Playing with water is often an outdoor based activity, so this provides children with an enabling environment to learn about the world around them.
For example, children may incorporate nature into their activities by adding rocks or sticks into the water container, or watch as the wind makes the water move in different ways.
By playing outside regularly, children will begin to understand that they need to be protected from the weather by wearing a sunhat and sunscreen, and they will gradually start to associate outdoor water play with sun protection.
Exploration of measurements and mathematical equations can also be introduced during outdoor water play, by using terms such as, full, empty, less, and more.
Children can begin to understand these terms by using the water to demonstrate, for example, by moving water from one container to container explaining which one is holding more water, or counting the rocks in the water trough.
Improve Social Skills
Although water play can be a great activity to encourage independent learning and discovery, it is equally important that children improve on their social skills by working in pairs or groups.
This may be with other children or with a caregiver; either way this helps children to work as part of a team. For example when carrying heavier containers of water from one place to another, they might need to pass it to someone else on the way.
Activities like these help children to build on their social skills that are needed for relationships in the future as they learn how to negotiate and cooperate with others.
Outdoor water activities also help children learn how to share both toys and containers as well as their space, with other children.
For example, some children may have more experience sharing toys with others due to having siblings at home. However, some children may need encouragement to take turns when taking part in activities such as pouring water down a channel into a trough, or playing with a specific toy or container if they are an only child.
Top 10 Benefits of Outdoor Water Play
Outdoor water play helps children to develop socially, cognitively, emotionally, and physically through exploration and experimentation.
There are so many activities that can benefit children’s learning and development, as using water allows their imagination to take over and encourages creativity.
Every container of water becomes something different every time children engage with water- based activities, as sticks become boats and watering cans become part of scientific experiments.
At The Hunny Pot Nursery, we have a range of outdoor areas that create an environment for children to have fun, play, learn, and explore.
We know that different activities in different environments are so important for children to develop, and we are passionate about providing these for children.
For more information about our indoor and outdoor classroom activities, or to book a tour of our nursery, get in touch with us.