What benefits of Water Play in Early Childhood Development?

Summer is here! On hot days, it’s such a great way to cool off but there is much more to water play! Water Play provides hours of rich and valuable early childhood experiences to develop children’s creativity and imagination.

We acknowledge that the environment is a teacher. Water play is both enjoyable and educational. It helps children develop eye-hand coordination and math and science concepts. It also enhances social skills and encourages cooperation.

Splish Splash, the benefits of Water Play for children

1. Develop Motor skills

Water Play gives many opportunities to develop fine and gross motor skills across age ranges. Children will increase their fine motor skills and hand eye coordination through actions like pouring, squirting, scrubbing, stirring and squeezing.

It’s an amazing sensory experience introducing them to textures (slippy, slimy…) and temperatures. It will also help master the pincer grip which will enable them to hold a pencil correctly at school. Actioning the pump is a favourite of our pre-schoolers and sure helps building these large arm muscles!

2. Language development

Imagine the discussions you can have asking what they are doing.

Imagine then, the number of new words they will learn while having fun with water and having conversations about it! Basin, Damp, Depth, Drain, Flow, Drenched, Drizzle, Sieve…

At strategic moments during play with water, educators will ask intentional questions to extend children’s thinking, expand their memory and use evidence to support their ideas.

3. Social-emotional growth

Water play releases energy, it can be both invigorating or relaxing and calming for young children.

It increases their ability to concentrate on one activity when presented as a tranquil and repetitive activity (scooping, pouring and running their hands through the water). Gentle water play allows them to unwind, order their thoughts and relax.

It also encourages role play and crucial social skills like cooperation and sharing.

They learn to work with one or several children, to take turns and share the space and accessories with their friends.

At Kids Club we love seeing the interactions that the children have around water play when the Ocean and Outback Rooms share the outdoor area. There are a lot of bonds growing between the children in a big brother and big sister fashion. What an easy way to work on school readiness! 

4.Develop Social Skills 

Water play gives many opportunities for children to develop crucial social skills when they are working with just one other child or a whole group. It is a great way for children to learn to share and take turns as they share the physical space and the play items in the water.

Water play can be an avenue for children to take their first steps from “playing alongside someone” to actually “playing with someone” as they follow other children’s ideas and join in with them, or likewise initiate an idea themselves. It could be a simple task like working together to fill a bucket with scoops of water from small cups. This team work and co-operation are important steps to developing the skills needed for friendships in the future.

5. Promotes Cognitive Development

Water play offers many opportunities for children to problem solve, question, explore and experiment. They may be investigating water science, finding out what floats and sinks, or how water moves a water wheel. They may be building their understanding of the properties of water and discovering that water flows downhill and will find a horizontal level. They may be developing math skills and estimating how many small pots of water it takes to fill a large bucket. They may be exploring measurements on the side of a jug and learning mathematical terms like “more than” or “less than”.

How To Make Water Play Manageable Every Day?

Setting up play activities with water is often easiest when the sun is shining and we have an outdoor space but this shouldn’t mean that we are not accessing water play at other times too.

Water play can be something that’s enjoyed everyday inside or out whatever the weather and whatever the space available. It doesn’t have to be a fancy water table or wading pool. Children can get just as much benefit from playing at a sink or in the bath or with a bucket or bowl of water on the floor.

Children benefit so much from water play. It’s a wonderful play resource that children can explore and experiment with in their own way. By offering a variety of water based experiences and letting children follow their own ideas we can encourage their natural curiosity which will lead to a whole range of valuable learning, experimenting and discovery.