When the weather turns hot, turn on the water! These activities turn sweaty boredom to cool fun. Be safe! Supervise small children while playing near the wading pool.
Who would think that an old rubber glove and a hose could be so much fun? Fill up your wading pool with this crazy sprinkler.
What you will need:
old rubber glove
1 fat rubber band
hose
Cut a tiny (nail hole size) piece from each finger of the glove. Attach the wrist of the glove securely to a hose with the rubber band. Turn on the water and watch the fun!
Make these up the night before your water activities and discover why icebergs are so invisibly dangerous to boats. Supply a few toy boats in the wading pool to demonstrate what happened to the Titanic.
What you will need:
plastic bags with a twist tie top (try different sizes for this project)
water
wading pool
Fill the bags two thirds full of water. Twist the tie on and place the bags in the freezer. When completely frozen, remove the icebergs from the plastic bags and measure each one from top to bottom. Estimate how much of the iceberg will remain above the water when placed in the pool. Then place the icebergs one at a time into the water filled wading pool. Interesting isn't it?
This is a homemade version of the commercial water slide. With safety rules (one person at a time, for example) and adult supervision, it is a very fun way to spend a hot afternoon. Place your water slide on a flat piece of lawn away from any stationary objects a child could slide into. Talk to the kids about rules beforehand, and then enjoy yourselves!
What you will need:
A long piece of plastic tarp (at least 20 feet long)
hose
Find a safe flat place to lay the tarp. Now for the slippery part: wet the tarp down completely with the hose. Take a few running steps on the lawn then slide belly down across the tarp. Wet the tarp down after each child, or keep a small stream of water from the hose running onto the plastic.
Let me just call this the Danno boat. My son was an expert boat builder when he was younger and he swiftly put together this boat in a few minutes for entertainment that lasted all afternoon.
What you will need:
Styrofoam tray
rubber band cut into a strip
duct tape (your child should have her own roll of this versatile stuff)
Cut one end of the Styrofoam tray into a pointed bow, leaving the other end square. Next, cut out a small rectangle from the middle of the square end of the boat to make space for your paddle (leaving a little extra room for the paddle to turn freely). Cut a paddle from the extra Styrofoam, sized to fit loosely into the rectangle space. To make grooves for the rubber band to fit into, notch each outside edge an inch or so up from the end. Lay the paddle piece into the space and then place the rubber over the stern of the boat and across the paddle, fitting it into the notches. Affix a small piece of tape over the rubber band across the paddle. Wind up the paddle on the boat and release the vessel on the water.
What happens? The boat is propelled across the water with the stored energy in the twisted rubber band. You can reverse the direction your boat, by reversing the twist of the rubber band.
