SPLASHING AROUND IN SUMMER TIME

Split-splashing around in the water on a hot, summer day is always a good time for a child! At Bright Start Academy, we know that no matter how little your little one is, having fun in the water is one of the highlights of summertime. From babies exploring that still new feeling of water dripping down their skin, to toddlers jumping in puddles and splashing around any way they can, even to preschoolers experimenting with things that float and sink, it's always fun to play in the water. 

So in the summertime, Bright Start Academy makes sure to bring those experiences and more to our center! With a little creativity, water play can bring a twist to our everyday activities, as well as give us some new ways to explore and create. It's just another way we combine play and learning to get your child off to the best start!

Babies take in everything that they see, hear and feel, so it's only natural that water is a curiosity for them that they just can't get enough of! Pat mats made out of water with small plastic fish, laminated pictures, or shiny objects that catch their eye can be fun for those little ones still working on their tummy time or those who are just sitting up. Small trays with a half an inch of water or so with baby-safe toys like rubber ducks that they can bang and splash, cups that they can scoop and pour, or even just water that they can dip their fingers and toes in are always fun activities for them to experience.

Remember, water play is a blast, but it requires constant, vigilant supervision. Little champers can bite through the sturdiest of pat mats, slippery hands and feet make accidents all too easy, and it only takes a tiny bit of water for it to be a danger to your child. These are engaging and interactive activities so sit and play with your baby like we do at Bright Start Academy.

Once those babies become busy toddlers, they are unstoppable and the play changes tremendously! At Bright Start Academy we change it up to help them have active fun while still keeping those same safety guidelines to keep things fun! Splashing and jumping in puddles are the kind of active play that they enjoy, along with everything being messy, messy, and messy! Spray bottles with colored water, paint brushes with buckets of water, wet chalk to make and create and sponges to squeeze and jump on are all great ways to explore and have fun while getting everything, including themselves, wet. 

There's very little structure to their play as they do what toddlers do:  try everything out to see what happens! Since their play is so much more exploratory than babies, and they have so many different ways to move, water play and toddlers tend to do best in large areas where they can really get messy!

Bright Start Academy makes the activities even a little different for preschoolers, as their play becomes more interactive and purposeful. While they'll still love to run and jump and splash around, painting the fences and sidewalks with wet paintbrushes and wet chalk, they are also easier to engage in more controlled and a little dryer play. Science experiments with water in bottles, making lava lamps and mixing their own color combinations are some of the quieter activities that are so much fun for this age range. 

Sand and water tables become the stage for epic pirate battles and lands where dinosaurs roam, as they play together a bit more to create scenes straight out of their imagination. Safety is still essential, but they are able to separate water play inside from outside, keeping things more under control and playing with a more direct purpose than solely for exploration. It's a different sort of fun that opens up so many doors to fun activities both in and out of the classroom!

Babies, toddlers, and preschoolers all love to play and explore with water, so that's just what we do at Bright Start Academy! Setting up stations, creating activities and giving them time to splash and have fun is all a big part of our summertime program. Through experimenting and exploring the water play, the children at Bright Start Academy develop fine and gross motor, cause and effect, problem solving, and social skills while having a great time, too! Play and learning go hand in hand...and that's the Bright Start Academy way of helping your child grow. We know the children love it...and so do we!

Contact Us

Visit at: Bright Start Academy 864 Homefield Blvd. O’Fallon MO 63366

Call us at: 636-379-2600

Or mail us at: bsaofallon@yahoo.com