Early Childhood News

(Pre-Kindy to Year 2)

Water Play

One of our Kindy playgrounds most popular features is the water play area. Not only does water play provide lots of splashes and giggles  but it also has developmental benefits for our children. 

Sensory

Water play is a sensory feast, allowing children to experience a range of sights, sounds, textures, and temperatures. Playing with water and different sensory experiences enhances children's ability to process and make sense of the world around them.

Physical Development

Pouring from containers and scooping and pouring with cups and buckets is lots of fun and helps children develop gross and fine motor skills. These physical challenges not only strengthen muscles but also improve coordination, balance, and spatial awareness.

Social Interaction

Water play is inherently social, inviting children to collaborate, communicate, and cooperate with their peers. Whether they're building sandcastles together, negotiating roles in a pretend pirate ship, or cooking a delicious mud pie, water play encourages the development of essential social skills. Through shared experiences, children learn to take turns, resolve conflicts, and work together towards common goals, laying the groundwork for positive social interactions and relationships.

Cognitive Development

Beneath the surface of water play lies a world of cognitive challenges and opportunities for exploration. As children pour, scoop, and manipulate water, they engage in scientific inquiry, testing hypotheses, and making discoveries about volume, buoyancy, and cause and effect. Water play also encourages problem-solving as children experiment with building dams, redirecting streams, and creating channels, fostering creativity, critical thinking, and spatial reasoning skills.

Emotional Regulation

Water has a soothing and calming effect on children. For children who may struggle with anxiety or sensory sensitivities, water play offers a safe and nurturing environment where they can unwind, recharge, and find peace.

Its not hard to see why the water play area in all of our Early Childhood outdoor spaces is so popular!