Water Play

[Unregistered]

After reading Nannyde's link to a thread from 5 years ago, I'm curious about everyone's stance on water play that is here today.

Do you do it? I do some forms, but not sprinkers and kiddie pools. First, it's rarely that hot here. Second, it's a liability I don't want. Third, we have lots of room to hike on. Fourth, I view it as a huge liability. I wrote that twice but I mean it. I have kids all 4 and under, and most are 3 and under.

But we do have a water table.

[KSDC]

I take my children to the neighborhood pool almost daily in the summer time. We do sprinklers and water play. And today we are doing a Mud Day!

As long as they are closely supervised, I think that water play is a good thing for children.

[DaveA]

Other than water table activities I don't do water play with the kids. it's just a headache I don't want.

[Unregistered]

I take my children to the neighborhood pool almost daily in the summer time. We do sprinklers and water play. And today we are doing a Mud Day!

As long as they are closely supervised, I think that water play is a good thing for children.

OP here. Okay, I can not imagine taking my 6 kids to the pool, especially since none of mine can swim! Do you have older kids? Less kids? How do you do it? I used to have enough trouble keeping just my ds above water before he could swim.

Do you just put life jackets on them and let them go? Inquiring minds over here!

[Unregistered]

Other than water table activities I don't do water play with the kids. it's just a headache I don't want.

OP Here. You're south of me, climate wise, but still comparable. It's not a huge consideration where we live, I don't think. In warmer states and climates, I might think more about doing it.

[Play Care]

We do water table only here. Kiddie pools are not allowed by licensing. I used to do sprinklers and honestly? The majority of the kids didn't like it. They argued and bickered the entire time, and within 5-10 minutes they were done. It took longer to set up than the time they play with it.

We do have a splash pad at our local park and depending on my numbers and what kids are here, I'll take them there.

[Thriftylady]

OP here. Okay, I can not imagine taking my 6 kids to the pool, especially since none of mine can swim! Do you have older kids? Less kids? How do you do it? I used to have enough trouble keeping just my ds above water before he could swim.

Do you just put life jackets on them and let them go? Inquiring minds over here!

I have taken my five to the pool. There are lifeguards there, and the pool is sectioned off in different depths. So the shorter ones have to stay in the 2-3 foot roped area unless with me. Some of them can't go past the four foot, unless with me. Two of mine can pass the swim test the lifegaurds give to go to the diving boards. So, I figure if they give the swim test and say it is passed, the liability is on them. But I still keep a close watch on them. I trust it, because my daughter is a lifeguard. I know from her that they will NOT let them in the deep water if it is iffy.

[Unregistered]

We do water table only here. Kiddie pools are not allowed by licensing. I used to do sprinklers and honestly? The majority of the kids didn't like it. They argued and bickered the entire time, and within 5-10 minutes they were done. It took longer to set up than the time they play with it.

We do have a splash pad at our local park and depending on my numbers and what kids are here, I'll take them there.

OP here. I think driving the kids around would be fun sometimes, but I've never made the leap. Liability again. But there are a lot of things around here that would be a blast for the kids.

[Play Care]

OP here. I think driving the kids around would be fun sometimes, but I've never made the leap. Liability again. But there are a lot of things around here that would be a blast for the kids.

We walk. It's just under a mile. Littles go in the stroller. I keep one seat "free" for kids who need a break, but my kiddos prefer to walk.
I do drive kids to preschool during the school year but I refuse to be driving around all summer.

[Unregistered]

We walk. It's just under a mile. Littles go in the stroller. I keep one seat "free" for kids who need a break, but my kiddos prefer to walk.
I do drive kids to preschool during the school year but I refuse to be driving around all summer.

Jealous!

[sharlan]

We go to the beach once a week - I have 8 kids. I stay on the sand with the littles and my 20 yo granddaughter stays in the water.

We go to Raging Waters once a week - I stay in the kiddie area with the littles while my granddaughter goes on the slides with the older ones. Anyone who doesn't listen to my granddaughter, sits in the kiddie area with me.

We have an above ground pool that the older kids swim in. Again, my granddaughter is in the pool with them.

I quit using water tables when my last analyst told me that they had to be dumped EVERY SINGLE time we came into the house.

[Blackcat31]

We celebrated International Mud Day yesterday.

It was awesome!!

We do water play, mud play, snow play, rain play, squirt gun play, sprinkler play, ANY kind of FUN outdoors and we're in!!!

The dirtier and messier the better!!

[Luvnmykidz]

This summer we are doing water play weekly here, usually on Wednesdays. I have a big tarp that we lay on the ground and some buckets that water toys are in as well as a small water table that is also placed on the tarp. That is for the younger crowd. For my school ages we set up water balloons, water guns and they have the sprinkler or water hose to play with as well. We have a select few days that we will go to the pool as well. The pool is sectioned off in depths as well as their is a toddler pool that the infants and toddlers can sit and play in. I have an assistant or volunteer with each child 2 and under. The pool doesn't require that, but it's more comfortable for me that every child 2 and under has their own adult. Then I have an adult with the other kids as well. Last summer we did water play on Tuesdays and the public pool on Thursdays. It was a big hit with the parents and the kids enjoyed it as well as us adults. There were lifeguards througout the pool area in each section, but I still made sure I had enough help with me to make the activity safe and enjoyable. As far as the number of kids goes it varies because I also offer drop in services, but I can have 8 kids at a time, plus I have 3 of my own that are not included in my license. We also do a ton of field trips weekly. We have gone to plays, splash parks, pottery studios, musuems, the zoo and much more. We sometimes do 3 field trips a week. I have a 15 passenger van with commercial insurance so transportation isn't an issue. I enjoy doing trips with the kids and being able to work and still allow my kids to not miss out on summer fun because of my career choice. We take everyone on our trips also, meaning if a kid hasn't behaved during the week then they may be excluded and parents are responsible for finding alternate care, and also all of our infants go as well. No one stays behind and we haven't had any major issues while out. We enjoy fun, messy, exciting activities. So if it's messy or fun, we're there!

[Luvnmykidz]

We celebrated International Mud Day yesterday.

It was awesome!!

We do water play, mud play, snow play, rain play, squirt gun play, sprinkler play, ANY kind of FUN outdoors and we're in!!!

The dirtier and messier the better!!

BC that looks so fun! We may have to incorporate that in our calendar of celebrations.

[Unregistered]

OP here. Okay, I just can't with mud. I'm sure it's fun if you like mud, but I just can't. Maybe it's a sensory thing with me. We do all kinds of other messy play, but mud grosses me out.

I don't know why, I mean we pick up frogs and toads, spiders and bugs, splash in non-muddy puddles...but mud itself makes me cringe. When I see the outdoor mud kitchens I want to vomit. Maybe because I know my littles would eat it. Oh yuck.