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An outdoor tap is probably the best value play resource you’ll ever install. A local plumber (or your own site manager, if they’re handy that way) can quickly and cheaply fix a brass outdoor tap to a wall close to an indoor water supply. Buy a hosepipe and all the attachments, and remember to turn the tap off at the stopcock in winter to prevent the pipes from freezing and during holidays to prevent water loss.
MARK-MAKING
Place buckets and shallow trays of water around the garden, along with a collection of mark-makers – for example, paintbrushes (from tiny watercolour brushes to giant shed brushes), rollers, sticks, sponges, squeezy bottles, turkey basters, pipes and colanders. Encourage children to draw or write in water, using the implements and testing out the effect on different surfaces, such as in the sand, on Tarmac or paving, on the walls and fences, on the grass and on artificial play surfaces.
This activity should be vigorously physical and lively, with plenty of discussion about the best mark-makers and the best surfaces to ‘write’ on.
Mark chalk outlines onto surfaces to help children follow a pattern; create a word or ‘colour in’ a picture.
BOTTLE ROCKETS
You’ll need a two-litre drink bottle, some wine corks, a foot- or hand-operated air pump, a funnel, a short Y-shaped stick and several valves of the kind used to inflate footballs and bicycle tyres. These can be bought cheaply online.
Press the Y-shaped stick into soft ground so that the bottle will rest, upside down, in it. Push the valves through the corks. Half fill the bottle with water, push a cork into the opening; it may need a trim to fit snugly into the bottle’s neck. Attach the pump to the valve, place the bottle into its ‘launcher’ and pump air into the bottle until it takes off.
CAR WASH
A ‘car wash’ made from plumbers’ PVC piping is fantastic fun and can be as simple as a horizontal pipe with holes along its length (for the water to trickle through), balanced or suspended between two posts. Remember to seal one end of the piping and add a hosepipe fixing at the other. Add sponges, cloths, fabric strips, pieces of pipe lagging and feather dusters. Check out Pinterest for some ambitious ideas!
RILLS AND GULLEYS
Use your loose parts resources – hollow blocks, crates, den-building equipment – and any fixed play equipment you have to create a variety of height levels. Connect them with guttering and pipes, add buckets and construct dams – try to devise a route that will lead from the highest point to one of your drain covers or a digging pit. Children will enjoy creating the rills and gulleys, experimenting with water flow, making waterfalls and adjusting the route so water can turn corners or drip onto the next level.
SUMMER RAIN
Invest in a large ‘glass clear’ tarpaulin. On a rainy day, suspend it from posts or play equipment so children can sit or lie underneath it. Watch the raindrops almost splashing on your head; can you predict which way the rain will run? Can you change the way the tarpaulin is suspended so that all the rain runs off into a bucket?
If you don’t have any posts, place broom handles into buckets and half fill with concrete. Keep the brooms upright until the concrete has set and you’ll have a series of portable posts, perfect for den-building and watching the rain.
And another thing…
Water butts are brilliant – not only do they collect water for reuse, they also reduce the volume of water reaching your drains. However, water from a butt is not suitable if children are likely to put their fingers in their mouths in the course of their play; potable water should be used – sparingly – in these situations.
