Water play… It’s a summer staple and something that’s enjoyed by kiddos of all ages. The best part is that most of the time, water play activities are incredibly easy to set-up, because let’s face it – you give most munchkins a bin of water to splash around in and they’re happy. That being said, with a few extra supplies, you can take water play to a whole new level.
Summer’s here which means that it’s officially ice excavation season! We love ice excavations and as the years pass, I’m always slightly surprised by just how into them Miss G is. She’s done many ice excavations in her time, and yet she still gets all amped up when I mention doing one {which I of course love}. I do try to make them fun and different each time, playing into whatever she’s interested in that summer, so a mermaid rescue ice excavation it was for my girl who currently loves mermaids. {So fun, right?! Mermaid birthday party here we come!}
Last night, after the munchkins were both snuggled in bed, Brad and I began talking about our upcoming summer… This one will be very different for us for several reasons, one of which it’ll be our first summer with two kids {!!!}, but also, it’ll be the first summer in a long time that a) we’ll be stationed in one spot {and in our own home no less!} and b) that doesn’t involve a 36 hour trek back to the Middle East {and all of the prep that comes with that} at the end of it. We’ll just be here. In Vancouver. Which feels sort of strange at the moment.
Though this afternoon’s squirt gun painting wasn’t planned, a monstrous hour and 45 minute clean-up after quiet play time didn’t leave us much time before dinner, so we ditched our other {more involved} painting plans and tried something super simple and quick to set up!
While cleaning out our vehicle yesterday, I realized that we still had a big stash of beach shells we’d collected a couple months hiding in our hatch (you know you’re a parent when…) We’d originally collected them with the intent of painting them, so that’s just what we did.
When we went to pick up a pool noodle for Gracen’s marble run water slide, she originally fell in love with a flower-shaped noodle. While I knew it wouldn’t be the best fit for our marble run, at $1.25, I knew we would eventually figure out a way to put it to good use.
It was my first time seeing this sort of pool noodle, and all I knew was that I wanted to slice it up to create tons of little individual flower shapes.
So that’s just what I did. Just like when slicing a pool noodle in half vertically, I found that using a sharp, serrated knife and a sawing motion worked best. I sliced ours about an inch thick, but you could do them any thickness you like – even varying thicknesses would be fun!
As I chopped, Miss G ran the ready flowers over to her blow up pool and tossed them in!
It’s such a simple thing, but they looked so pretty and inviting dancing around on the water’s surface. (I’m already picturing them in bath tubs and sensory bins too!)
I think Miss G agreed, because she immediately jumped in {despite the freezing cold water} and started splashing around like mad!
When the splashing had subsided a little bit, Grandma Charlotte showed Grae how the flowers could be used as building blocks.
It’s definitely easier in still-ish water, but it’s equally fun when in or out of the pool. Towers can be built…
Pyramids can be built…
And ‘trains’ can be built too! Of course, the possibilities are really endless when it comes to building structures – even when they’re floating ones.
Now the only question is how I’m going to convince Brad that heaps of pool noodle flowers are a Kuwait necessity… I mean with the heat and the amount of time we spend in and around water there, they are, aren’t they? ☺
When I found this huge jar of marbles sitting in the closet of Brad’s childhood bedroom, I knew they had to be used for something fun. I immediately thought of these two posts and knew that Miss G would love exploring a marble run.
While Grandma Charlotte’s pool noodles didn’t have holes down the centres and every shop in the village she lives in appeared to be anxiously waiting the same pool noodle shipment, my hometown not far away had pool noodles aplenty! In fact, one of the local dollar stores had huge bins full for $1.25 a piece! With a pool noodle in hand, I began building our marble run during G’s nap. The first step was saw the noodle in half vertically with a serrated knife. Slow and steady was the key to this one.
It was a bit tricky to cut perfectly down the centre of the noodle the entire time, but it really doesn’t have to be perfect.
Next up, I inserted several toothpicks along the side of one of the noodle halves, then carefully connected the other half.
With the main structure built and plenty of nap time to spare, I decided to focus on the details. While I’m sure the usual race track theme would have gone over wonderfully, I decided to switch things up a little and gear the activity to one of Gracen’s recent interests… water slides! Using some bamboo skewers I shortened a little, I threw together a ‘WATER SLIDE’ sign and a few buntings and stuck them onto the slide structure. Then I propped the top of the slide up on a couple of vintage apple crates and put a small bin filled with sparkly blue water at the bottom. Gracen was delighted to wake up from her nap and see it!
The activity really needed no explanation. She recruited Grandma Charlotte, they each selected a marble, and on ‘ready, set, go!’ they released them.
It was a close one!
I kind of wondered if she’d always want someone playing with her during this activity, but that wasn’t the case. She just as happily played on her own.
And after doing several races, things got a little creative… She tried putting multiple marbles in a track before releasing them, raced small marbles against large marbles, and tried sending Nerfuls down too.
Our little pool noodle water slide has already brought a ton of fun and I can’t wait for us experiment with it some more in the coming weeks… I’m thinking ping pong balls would be neat because they’d float in the pool at the bottom and maybe we’ll try racing water itself?
♥
For extra fun, like us on Facebook here and find us on Instagram here.
