August 14, 2022
It’s been hot! All summer in the midwest we have been on a roller coaster of heat waves- and it seems much of the rest of the country has been, too. As the school year draws near or begins, it is so easy grow weary of it, especially without trips to the pool or lake for respite.
Cynthia Aldinger, LifeWays founder, shared this fun song with us a few weeks ago and I would love to share it with you today, hopeful that it will be a joyful outlet to the grumps and grumbles from young and old alike as we all tire of the heat!
I would also like to offer a few ideas for water play that can be refreshing when you have an hour or so of free play at home, but a trip to the pool is too much for the weeknight schedule. Or, for caregivers with littles around, these activities are a great way to bring in water play when pools aren’t allowed!
These are simple activities for free play:
- Hose or buckets of water for the sandbox
- Small pitchers for pouring water from container to container
- Water buckets, soap bubbles and sponges for cleaning outdoor furniture or toys
And simple “games” to play, even with littles:
- A cup pouring “relay”- Set up a start line with a bucket that is full of water, and a finish line with a bucket that is empty. For one version, provide one cup for children to use to “race” each other to fill the finish line bucket. There is lots of versatility with a game this simple, that are suitable for even toddlers to be included.
- In a version for older children, each child holds a cup and stands, spaced out evenly between the buckets. Then, they “race” to pour the water from cup to cup and into the finish line bucket. It’s even trickier when they have to lift the cup up over their heads and aim into their friend’s cup behind. Lots of giggles are emitted when someone gets wet instead!
- Race to roll an inflatable ball, or shoot water through a moving hula-hoop with water squirters.
- “Dribble, dribble, Drench!” is a game I learned at Mulberry Classroom at Poppy Hill. This game is played like just like “Duck, Duck, Goose!” except instead of a tap, each “duck” gets a dribble of water while the “goose” gets the drench! Kids of all ages played this game gleefully together.
- And, of course, Sponge stars/balls have been all over the internet this year but they are so easy and fun for children of all ages that I had to include a tutorial for them: DIY Sponge Balls from PBS Kids.
Wishing you all joy and patience with the season and the school year transition!
To own the sheet music for this lovely Mary Thienes-Shunemann song and many other joyful melodies you can purchase Songs of the Season, one among many books in her Singing with Children series, available at naturallyyoucansing.com.
