Object inquiry skills
Toddlers explore holding water in their hands.
Be Prepared: The activity begins with toddlers using their hands to explore features of water and then shifts to using cups to fill and pour. The cups provide a different way to explore water and can help you constructively guide the activity away from possible splashing.
[Invite several toddlers to join you at the sensory table to explore water. Invite toddlers to help you roll up their sleeves and secure the closure on water smocks.]
There is warm water in our tub. Let’s move our hands back and forth in the water.
[Draw toddlers’ attention to what happens to the water when a hand or finger is put in the water.
Describe toddlers’ actions. Examples: “Your hands are moving the water.” “Cameron, you are moving your fingers under the water.”
Repeat and extend toddlers’ vocalizations.]
Can we hold water in our hands?
[Demonstrate trying to grasp the water without cupping your hand(s).]
The water does not stay in our hands. We can make a cup with our hands to hold water. Please look at my hands.
[Demonstrate cupping both of your hands together above the water. Then dip your cupped hands into the water to show how water remains in your hands for a little while.
Invite each toddler to cup his/her hands and hold water in his/her cupped hands.
Demonstrate what happens to water held in our cupped hands when we un-cup our hands. Encourage toddlers to try this.]
[Use your cupped hands to transfer water to the cupped hands of each child, one at a time. Point out the cup shape of our hands and how our cupped hands hold water for a moment.
Give each toddler a small cup to fill with water. Then encourage him/her to pour the water out. Describe toddlers’ pouring actions. Emphasize the fill and pour.]
We watched the water move when we put our hands in the water. We held our hands like a little cup to hold water. We used real cups to hold water. We filled our cups with water and then we poured out the water.
Some toddlers may begin to produce actions associated with bath time at home, such as slapping the water or putting water on their head. Respond positively by showing and telling how to use the water. Example: “We are doing something different with water today. We are moving our fingers or hands. Water stays in the tub.” Anticipate toddlers will differ in the length of time they spend with the water tub.
Toddlers often get clothing wet during the activity. Even though changing clothes may take a few extra minutes, the benefit of guided water experiences far outweighs the extra staff effort required to change the clothes. Sensory play sends signals to children’s brains that help strengthen neural pathways important for learning. Water play helps toddlers develop their sense of touch, which creates a foundation for other skills, such as manipulating objects.
Extra support
Enrichment
Object inquiry skills
A toddler practices filling a bottle with water by immersing it in a tub of water and pouring water from the bottle.
Be Prepared: A container with a wide opening may be used instead of a sensory table.
Invite one toddler at a time to practice pouring and filling. The toddler will enjoy discovering how bubbles come out of the bottle when held under water. Pouring water back into the sensory table (or into a container with a wide opening) is a good way to begin learning how to control the amount of water poured from a bottle. Encourage the toddler to pour the water slowly, letting a little bit at a time out of the bottle.
This activity option builds on the last segment of the Option 1 activity by providing more and focused use of a container for pouring practice. This is both a motor and cognitive task. Use the smallest of stacking cups if a toddler has difficulty holding a bottle. A cup with a handle may work for some toddlers.
It is natural for toddlers to want to splash the water. Use a gentle tone to remind a toddler to keep water in the table. A container with a large opening (suggested as an alternative to a sensory table) may decrease the tendency to splash.
Extra support
Enrichment
Object inquiry skills
Toddlers gain skills in manipulating a free-flowing material.
Be Prepared: Secure simple containers (about six inches in size) that are easy for toddlers to hold and control. Stacking and nesting cups are a possibility. Securing some clear (see-through) containers can enhance toddlers’ awareness of how the water level goes up or down when adding or pouring water.
Invite 2–3 toddlers to join you at the water table. Give each toddler two containers for pouring water back and forth among containers. Include key concepts in your descriptions of toddlers’ actions (particularly scooping and pouring), and what happens to their containers (particularly empty and full). Point generously while also enabling toddlers to pursue their interests with the containers and water.
Holding and manipulating two containers at the same time may be too challenging for some toddlers. Offer to hold a container while the toddler pours; pouring is the more challenging of these two actions. Watch for chances to comment on, and perhaps guide, the numerous learning opportunities in this activity—including practice in pouring, noticing changes in water volume (especially with clear containers), sharing space and materials with peers, and using familiar and novel words.
If toddlers splash the water, or put water on a peer, offer a gentle reminder. For some toddlers, the experience of touching the water may be more captivating than pouring.
Extra support
Enrichment
Materials Needed: 4 small (about one quart) containers, sensory table with 1” of warm water, small blocks
Place the four small, empty containers in the sensory table with the warm water. Add an assortment of small blocks to the water. Invite toddlers to use their hands to grasp the blocks and transfer them to the containers. Toddlers will see the container filling with blocks and water. Stay close by to facilitate problem-solving. Example: “Your container is full. Your container will not hold one more block. Where can you put the block?” The toddlers may dump the contents of the container or find an empty container to use.
Materials Needed: toys, soapy water, high chair with tray, containers
Preschooler-age children will enjoy the Interest Area activity and the one-on-one opportunities of Option 2. Preschool-age children also often enjoy washing toys in tubs of soapy water. Infants may enjoy splashing their hands in one tablespoon of water on a high chair tray or other shallow surface. During a rainy day, place containers outdoors to collect water that children can then pour on plants or grass.
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