It’s been almost two months since my last post — I guess I’d blame the cold weather for this hiatus :p So it’s officially winter here in Massachusetts. We had a strangely warm December… We were out in sweatshirts on Christmas Day; many were in shorts and t-shirts! We’ve had a couple of super cold days since then and it leaves us with no options but to stay home. OK, I’ll be honest… Staying home all day with an active toddler can be challenging. It’s no longer about sipping a hot drink and watching Netflix all day hehehe…

One thing that we like to do is to do water play. No, I don’t have an indoor swimming pool (although if I did, you’re all invited to my pool party :p). I bought a water table from Amazon during one of their Black Friday deals, and it’s one of the best purchases ever!

All you need is basically (lukewarm) WATER!

I usually include a couple of containers that she could pour water into (e.g., measuring cups, plastic cups) and scooping tools like a measuring spoon, ladle, or small strainer. Sometimes I’d add water beads or water animal figurines or her bath toys.

As you can see in the picture, I have a large tarp and large towels underneath the table. At the beginning, Alia didn’t like getting wet :p But after awhile, she knows that it’s OK to get all wet because after a change of clothes and a quick clean up, she’s all clean again (yes, my daughter is kind of clean enthusiast heheheh).

I try to include her in the clean up process. The downside about this water table is that it doesn’t have a plug, so you have to lift and dump the water. Since we’re inside and I’m not the sister of Hulk, I can’t do that :p

So here’s what we do – pouring the water into a bucket, one measuring cup at a time hahahhaha

I can’t say enough how happy we are with this water table. I’ve used it with (old) rice too. A young child can practice many skills here like liquid and/or solid transfer and sensory play. Think also how many vocabulary that you can introduce – wet, water, be careful/carefully pour the water, small container, etc. Wonderful, isn’t it?

So water play isn’t only for the summertime, is it? 😀