Cold Weather Water Play Ideas

Does your toddler love water play? Of course they do! Chances are, you spent most of your summer outside, in the pool, visiting the lake, hooking up water toys to a hose, or heading out to your local splash pad. Now that it’s cold outside, water play has become less and less, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still have fun. Water play is very beneficial for toddlers and their development. Keep reading to learn more about the benefits of water play, some great indoor water play ideas, and the best indoor bubble set (yes, you read that right!) that is absolutely mess-free.

Developmental Benefits of Water Play

Water play is anything that involves the water and your toddler. This includes swimming, playing with buckets and containers, playing in the sink, and endless other options. Water play can help your toddler grow and work on important muscle groups.

Benefits of water play include:

• Balance. Being in the water is, of course, totally different than being on the ground. Water play is a fantastic exercise for balance!
• Strength. Working through the water is an awesome exercise for toddlers, kids, and even adults.
• Coordination. Swimming, pouring water, using water toys, and splashing around are all ways to develop your toddler’s coordination skills.
• Social skills. Communication, language development, exploration, making friends, and playing with others are all things that can be learned in the water!

Great Indoor Water Play Ideas

Once the weather turns cold, water play is quickly forgotten about, unless it's in the bathtub. This can be a struggle for parents who have kiddos that do not enjoy bathtime. If your little one loves water play, you’re looking for a new activity, and you’re looking to work on your little one’s development, we’ve compiled a bunch of our favorite indoor water play ideas for you!

• Turkey baster water transfer. A great way to work on your little one’s strength, coordination, and confidence is by grabbing two buckers, filling one with water, and allowing your kiddo to transfer water from the full bucket to the empty bucket using only a turkey baster! While it might be a frustrating task at first, watch their confidence and smile grow as they figure it out and master it.
• Water pouring challenges. Can your little one pour water into various buckets, glasses, or bowls without spilling? It’s a challenge and will help with their balance, strength, and coordination. You can add food coloring to different buckets for added fun and educational benefits, so they can see how colors are made (combine yellow and blue water to make green!)
• Ice cube transfer game. Make ice cubes in a tray and add a drop of food coloring to them, so that they stand out in the water once frozen and in the water. Pop them out and place them in a bowl, then give your toddler a large spoon, tongs, or a cup, and see how many they can scoop out!
• Ice treasures. Grab a small toy, such as a ball or Hot Wheels, fill up a Ziplock back with water, place it inside, and freeze it. Give your little one some tools and watch as they work at chipping the ice block to get to their new toy!
• Car wash. Get a few of your toddler’s trucks and cars and, here’s the fun part, get them dirty! Next, fill up a bucket, the sink, or the bathtub, and play car wash. Set up sponges, brushes, and even a towel to dry them off!
• Bubble play. Don’t want to play with bubbles indoors? We’ve got the solution for you! Literally, the solution: Our bubble solution is botanical, non-sticky, and doesn’t leave a gooey, drippy mess. Best of all, our toddler-friendly bubble blower is super easy to dip and use.

Spike Sensory Bubble Play Skin Happy Botanical Bubbles & Blower Set

Bubble play doesn’t have to be an outside-only game anymore! Long-lasting, mess-free bubbles are here: Say hello to SPIKE’s Sensory Bubble Play!

This sensory bubble toy gives tons of bubbles without the mess or soapy, gooey residue. Perfect for sensory play, learning, bubble therapy, the classroom, birthday parties, special events, and more, this uniquely designed bubble system is non-toxic, calming, and worry-free for parents. This bubble toy is made with plant extracts, coconut oil, and purified water and is easy on sensitive skin.

If your toddler loves bubbles, but you hate the mess and constantly dipping a wand into a messy jug, you’re going to love how simple, easy, and mess-free this bubble blower is! Simply pour bubble solution into the tray, dip, and twirl the blower, and start blowing bubbles!

• EASY ON YOUR SKIN: Safer bubbles made with botanical ingredients for cleaner bubble play. Say no to harsh soap & detergents.
• SIMPLE FOR KIDS TO USE: Uniquely designed bubble blower makes lip rounding exercises easier & more fun! 
• GREAT FOR DEVELOPMENT: Great for speech therapy, oral & motor developmental exercises, visual tracking & special awareness development.
• FUN WITHOUT THE MESS: Oodles of long-lasting, mess-free bubbles make birthday parties, weddings & special events more memorable.

  

For more parenting tips, play ideas, and more safe products for the whole family, visit us at Innobaby.com!