The summer months are a great time for children of all ages to splash and explore with water. Not only is water play fun, but it’s also a great learning experience for your child. Supervised water play fosters creativity, fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, language skills, math and science concepts, and so much more.

Below are four of our favorite activities to try with your little one.

1. Paint with Water

Painting with water is an easy, mess-free activity that will stimulate your child’s imagination. Give him paintbrushes, rollers and a bucket of water. Let him paint the house or driveway and watch the water disappear in the heat.

2. Water Sounds

Provide your child with spoons and a few mason jars, each filled with a different amount of water and a different food coloring. Encourage him to tap the spoons against the jars to hear the various sounds. Ask, “What happens when you tap the jar in different spots?” or “How would you describe that jar of water?” Listen for vocabulary related to size, color and sound.

3. Wash Toys

Children love doing “grown-up” jobs, so enlist his help in cleaning his toys! Fill a bucket with soapy water and a few sponges. Encourage him to gather plastic dolls, cars or figurines and wash them in the water. Show him how to clean each toy and place them on a clean towel to dry.

4. Cause & Effect Experiment

Bring a few ice cubes outside and watch them melt in the sunshine. Ask your child questions that encourage exploration and guide critical thinking, such as “What do you think will happen when we put the ice cube in the sun?”, “How long do you think it will take for the ice cube to melt?” and “Why do you think the ice cube melted?”