The Toy Finder

Learning about mathematical concepts such as capacity and measurement can be fun with a few inexpensive preschool water play toys. Valuable lessons can be learned while playing without children even noticing, if parents are willing to combine a few cheapie water toys with lots of vocabulary-rich conversation.

Expensive water play tables are not essential, as children can have just as much splashy fun in a budget range paddling pool or in the bath. The important job to remember is to ring the changes often by providing a wide range of containers, tools and accessories, including bath toys.

Plastic buckets, pots and tubs that can be filled and poured from one to another teach preschoolers about volume and displacement. Varying shapes and sizes will extend the range of learning experiences. Parents can aid the learning process through incidental discussion about the properties of water and through encouraging and initiating water vocabulary such as fill, empty, pour, full and spill. Conversation relating to which receptacles hold a little and which hold more encourages preschoolers to make comparisons.

Straws, bubble wands and bubble bath in racy red, pretty pink or gruesome green will add to the wavy fun and will add splashes of bright colour while extending the topic of science to include the properties of air and forces.

Even more splashy enjoyment can be added by the provision of fun containers such as dolly cups and saucers, pink teapots and miniature pots, pans and kettles – perhaps from a play kitchen. Sharing out the ‘tea’ can involve discussion on important concepts such as more than, less than, equal to. Preschool fine motor skills and hand-eye co-ordination will both get plenty of practice with all the pouring, tipping and measuring games involved in the virtual tea-party role play.

Other bath and water toys have even more exciting possibilities. Funnels, tubes, strainers and squeezy bottles promote vocabulary such as squirt, jet, shoot, trickle and flood. Even seemingly frivolous bath toys such as yellow bath ducks can have a place – as part of a collection of objects with different floating or sinking properties. Hollow, lighter toys which are filled with air float better than metal cars, for example. Properties which make objects waterproof and rustproof can be chatted about in terms of which toys are suitable for immersing in water and which are not.

Larger plastic containers such as basins and bowls can be used to push down into the water to experiment with changes in horizontal water levels – the ‘eureka’ phenomenon of water displacement can be fascinating for mathematicians of any age – including soaked preschoolers! If the water play takes place indoors however, it’s worth providing some protection for the floor – towels, cloths and aprons will be required in equal measure!

Once all the basic water play concepts have been covered, it’s time for little scientists to move onto greater things! There is a plethora of possibilities available in bath toy ranges. Equipment such as kids’ bath shower pumps and water wheels really ‘up the mathematical learning stakes’ with ideas such as siphoning, vacuum and water-powered energy!

As always though, maximum learning value from these educational water play toys will only be gained with full interactive commitment and conversation with peers and parents.