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Cool Off With a Scooping and Pouring Water Bead Water Bin

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April 19, 2016 by Sarah Punkoney, MAT

Even in my morning preschool class, the sun warms our backs as we play and learn outside, and after having been put away for the winter, my preschoolers were very excited to see the reappearance of our water bin. Full of green water beads, this scooping and pouring water bin was the perfect way to enjoy with warmer weather.

Scooping and Pouring Water Bead Water Bin
Scooping and Pouring Water Bead Water Bin - This scooping and pouring water play activity is super fun for preschoolers, and it has the added benefit of being sensory play as well as well as teaching math and science! What can be more fun than water play for preschoolers that includes learning activities? #preschool

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Water play is so inviting to children. I’ve never met a preschooler who could resist even the most simple water bin. This bin was pretty darn simple, but the developmental practice that took places sometimes difficult to replicate in other activities.

Materials

  • large water table(I have this cement mixing tub).
  • water beads
  • small plastic shot glasses (preferably clear)
  • small plastic tubes glasses (preferably clear)
  • small scoops (I used formula scoops).

Scooping and Pouring with Water Beads

There are several advantages to using water beads in a scooping and pouring activity. First, when immersed in water, the children have to use all their coordination to fill their scoops and pour the beads into a cup or tube. Second, the weight of the water beads are sometimes helpful for those children who struggle with the basic skill of scooping and then twisting the wrist to pour.

Scooping and Pouring Water Bead Water Bin Preschool Activity

As the children played, they watched the water beads grow. Using bother the plastic cups and the tubes they learned about capacity as the filled them to the brim, only to find that they didn’t hold the exact same number of scoops, and fo course even that discovery was dependent on whether or not the scoops were filled all the way. That was another challenge for some of the children.

Scooping and pouring water bead water bin is a great fine motor activity for summer time

As the children scooped and poured, not only were they practicing fine motor skills that are needed in everyday life skills, but they were also learning many different math and science concepts. The above photo demonstrates how the movement of water is affected by other materials.

Scooping and Pouring Water Bead Water Bin Preschool Activity for developing fine motor skills

This student filled his plastic tube with water and then carefully dropped water beads into it, one by one, and watched them fall. How long they took to fall through the water and to the bottom seemed to depend on how big they had become. He held the tube up to the sun and counted the water beads he had collected.

Why Include Water Play

While this water bin was clearly designed for fine motor development, that is just one skill children learn through water play. It strengthens hand muscles and coordination, in addition to helping develop social skills. Not to mention the science and math concepts children gain through water exploration.

When children are allowed to play with materials in a water tub, they explore concepts of movement and flow, density and measurement, and even of plant and animal life. Not only does water respond when we play in it, but our bodies respond to being in water. Preschoolers discover they get wet, that the water temperature may vary and that too much time spent in water leads to pruney hands. A shallow water bin is a great place for children to learn problem-solving skills of how and why things happen.

Of course, like any other preschool activity, water play should always be supervised by a responsible adult, even if the bin is filled with the most shallow water.

Sarah Punkoney, MAT

I am Sarah, an educator turned stay-at-home mama of five! I am the owner and creator of Stay At Home Educator, a website about intentional teaching and purposeful learning in the early childhood years. I’ve taught range of levels, including preschool and college, and a little bit of just about everything in between. Right now, my focus is teaching my children and running a preschool from my home. Credentials include: Bachelors in Art, Masters in Curriculum and Instruction

stayathomeeducator.com/

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Filed Under: Development, Motor Skills, Play Tagged With: Fine Motor, Outdoor Play, scooping and pouring, Sensory Play, water play

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Trackbacks

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