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EYFS Activities: Five ways to explore… water

With summer upon us, Julie Mountain suggests some creative ways to use water in your setting

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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.

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