15+ Water Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers: Fun, Easy and Low-Prep
Water Play. There’s nothing like it, right? It’s unmatched in it’s popularity. If you’re tired of the same old water play activities all the time, take a look below at my tried-and-tested water activities for toddlers and preschoolers. My own kids, and the little one’s I childminded absolutely love them!
Great for sensory play, and cheap and easy to set up, water play is a popular activity for parents of young kids.
But, do you ever just run out of new ideas for water play? I mean, they can only splash around with a tub of water and bath toys for so long before they’re ready for a bit of a change.
If you’re after some new ideas to spruce up your toddlers water play activities, then check out these fun, low-prep options. They’re super popular with the toddlers I childmind and my pre-schooler!
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Ice Skating Fun!
This is one of my absolute favorite water activities for toddlers and preschoolers! It’s just that bit more unique and interesting!
To create this water sensory bin, I sat some figures in tubs (of different shapes and sizes) and then poured some water in up to their middle. Then I carefully popped them in the freezer to set into ice blocks.
This can be quite tricky, as sometimes the figures tip over or, if they’re light or you have too much water, they start to float. Trial and error is needed a bit here, as you work out which toys are best for this.
It takes a few hours for them to fully set, so I like to do this the night before so they are ready to play with in the morning. Then I popped them onto my tuff tray (but any tray or sensory bin works just as well) and added some water and chunks of ice.
Potion Station
A Potion Station is one of my kid’s favorite water play activities. It’s interesting and varied, and you can change it up slightly depending on the season, or what you have in your house, on any given day!
My kids love mixing the different colors, and adding bits and pieces to their potions.
You can use food coloring and edible items if you need to keep it taste-safe for your little one too.
How to Make a Potion Station on your Tuff Tray, goes into more detail about how to set up a Potion Station and has lots of ideas for how to mix it up each time to keep it fresh.
I set up this activity using our Tuff Tray, which I absolutely love! If you’re interested in finding out more about Tuff Trays and all the benefits of having one then check out, Is it worth Getting a Tuff Tray?
Baby Washing
My daughter and the little toddlers I childmind absolutely love this baby-washing activity!
I used my kid’s Picnic Table-Water Tray for this activity. It was just perfect for it! You can check out a similar one on Amazon here.
It was so simple to set up. I simply filled both basins with water, then added some bubble bath and the dolls. Lastly, I set out some soap, shampoo, washcloths, a potty, and some towels for drying.
I personally love this water play activity as it isn’t messy. It’s just water so my kid’s clothes don’t need to be soaked afterward, just hung up to dry!
Dirty Dino Bath Time
Oh my goodness, this one was messy! But such fun for my little people.
I made some super simple taste-safe mud by mixing some cocoa powder, flour, and water until I got the desired consistency. Then I added the dinosaurs and a bowl of soapy water, old toothbrush and washcloths.
This is nice and quick to set up and I love that it uses items I always have to hand at home so I don’t have to plan ahead. That’s my kind of activity!
If you’re interested in more messy, muddy play you’ll love, Messy Farm Play on the Tuff Tray: Toddler Sensory Ideas.
Flower Soup
Ah, Flower Soup. Doesn’t it look beautiful?
You can use any color you like for this one to personalize it for your little one, or for the season.
I had planned on using food coloring to dye the water, but I hadn’t got any in the requested color, so I actually used some paint and glitter instead. It worked just as well.
We picked flowers from around the garden and got mixing.
I think next time I might add some heart-shaped ice cubes to it too, as a little extra.
Pipe Slides
The toddlers I childmind loved this one so much!
We simply found an old piece of pipe that we had left over from re-doing the guttering and sliced it in half to make the slide. If you don’t have any old bits of pipe lying around, chances are someone you know does, or you can check out a reclamation yard.
They loved pouring water down it to make it slippery and then sending their little toys sliding to the bottom.
You can mix it up by cutting your pipe into various lengths of slides and setting them up so some are slow and some are steep and fast slides!
If you’re doing this activity inside you could simply put a tub of water at the bottom under the slide to catch the water and toys as they come down the slide.
Summer Fruits Sensory Bin
This is a gorgeous summer sensory bin for a hot summers day!
It took me 5 minutes to prepare as all it is is a dash of yellow food dye in the water to give it that lovely vibrant color, and then some sliced summery fruits in yellow, orange, and red. I used peaches, oranges, lemons, and strawberries for mine.
I love this one because it’s taste-safe making it fab for little one’s who still put everything in their mouth when they play!
STEM & Fine Motor Skills Idea
This water play activity is great for curious preschoolers, but it can also be adapted for toddlers too.
It’s all about melting the ice using different methods. We offered cold water and warm water to see which melted the ice faster. We also used some syringes to target the warm water at certain sections of the ice, and tried brushing the ice with a paintbrush and warm water.
You can freeze all kinds of things in the ice to make this activity different each time. We have tried:
- Toys stuck in the ice
- Flowers
- Little Leaves
- A selection of Flower Petals
- Glitter
- Pom poms
- Feathers
- Beads
- And Lego so far!
Car Wash
This is another popular water play activity with my toddlers and my kids.
A tub of soapy water, a couple of cloths for washing and a few for drying, and their outdoor cars and tractors.
My daughter did this activity this morning, then after lunch, she noticed her car had dried, and declared she would have to wash it all over again!
Wash the Muddy Animals
This Water Play activity took me about 5 minutes to get set up!
I made the sensory mud for this one with a mix of flour, cocoa powder, and water. Then I added some cereal that could be mixed in to give it a bit of a crunch, some animal figures, a big bowl of soapy water, and some tooth brushes for cleaning the mucky animals.
It was a big hit with the toddlers I childminded. They played with it for ages!
This messy farm play provided opportunities to expand our vocabulary around farming and hygiene, as well as practice our fine motor skills and use our imaginations.
If you’d like to see more Sensory Farm Play Activities, take a look at this collection.
The Frozen Lands!
This is a lovely little set-up that requires barely any preparation at all.
I just set some blocks of ice and ice cubes overnight and in the morning popped them out onto the tray, along with some polar bears and penguins.
This was a great little set-up for learning about the properties of water as we added some warm water to help melt the ice. It also led into a little environmental chat as we spoke about melting ice and how to help take care of our environment. We also spoke about the North and South Poles and the wildlife that live there, following it up with a look at some related picture books.
Pom Pom Water Play
Don’t ask me why, but transferring the pom poms from one tub of water to another kept my little toddlers entertained for ages!
We do this one inside and outside.
Sometimes I freeze the pompoms in water in an ice cube tray before adding them to the water to mix it up. This is especially great for cooling them down on a hot day.
You could also use food coloring to make different colored water to transfer the pompoms between.
Ocean Play
This one is deceptively easy!
It’s just some ice with blue water, some rocks, and a few arctic animal toys and people figures added in.
Blue food coloring would work the best, but since we were out of that I simply mixed blue paint into the water and it did the job. I used a kid’s water-based paint so it didn’t stain any of the toys and came off with some soapy water at the end.
Alphabet Soup!
A fun little water play idea for toddlers and preschoolers who are beginning to learn their letters! Either use it as a letter familiarisation activity with lots of letters in the water or, as I have done here, as a letter matching game!
You could also write out the child’s name on paper above and encourage them to scoop out the correct letters to match those in their name. This would be a great way to help familiarise young children with the spelling of their name.
Water Play with Coloured Balls
If you’re short on time and need a quick activity that entertains, this is it!
It’s super quick and super basic, but yet they love it!
This water play activity helps with color recognition and fine motor skills, so it’s also great for our little ones’ development.
Pouring Station
This one uses water and ice, with an array of different cups, bottles, and tubs to practice pouring skills.
This may seem a little boring, but from personal experience, I can reassure you that toddlers just love transferring water from one container to another and back again.
It keeps them amused for such a long time!
Ice Painting
I could hardly write a list of water play activities for toddlers and Preschoolers and not include ice play ideas. However, I feel it really deserves a post of its very own. I am working on this. Until then, just to wet your appetite, here’s one of the ideas.
Painting ice is fun, interesting, and something a little different.
I simply froze water in different sizes and shapes of tubs, so my kids could learn about shapes too, and then I added paint and brushes to the table for them.
We used our Tuff Tray for this and it worked perfectly. If you’re interested in getting one, you can check out the reasons why I love it so much here: Is it Worth Getting a Tuff Tray?
Icy Drink Station
Make your own icy, fruity drink!
This one is great for fine motor skills, like pouring and scooping, and develops their independent skills.
Great for sensory play, they can mix with their hands, and feel the different textures of the fruits, ice, and water. They can also explore their senses of taste and smell too.
I set this activity up using our Tuff Tray, which works great for limiting mess! If you’re considering getting one check out, Is it Worth Getting a Tuff Tray?
Duplo Adventure Swimming Pool
My little ones loved playing with this adventure swimming pool set up and this was just the beginning. This quick setup got them started and then they could add to it themselves as they played.
This water play activity is great for small-world play and really got them using their imaginations.
It was great for practicing independent play and fine motor skills too!
Water Play Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers
I hope this list of water play activities for toddlers and preschoolers has inspired you with lots of fun and easy ideas to try with your little ones.
As a mom and childminder, to little kids, I know the value of quick and easy activities that are interesting and fun for our little people, whilst helping them to learn and develop.
You may also like:
Easy Sensory Tuff Tray Ideas your Toddler will Love
Messy Farm Play on the Tuff Tray: Toddler Sensory Ideas
