Sponge Play

My kids love to play, in any way, with water. So I was drawn to Sponge Play. In this activity, you need only two bowls and a sponge for each kiddo. Fill one bowl with water and put a few drops of food coloring in the water. I used two Williams Sonoma sponges, the kind that come condensed and grow in water during the first use. The boys loved watching each sponge 'grow' when it was put in water. I talked about the texture and color of the sponge, and then showed them how to squish the sponge. Now, the concept of this activity is to transfer the water back and forth between the two bowls. P&K kinda got it, but they had a blast dropping the sponge in the water and then squeezing water all over our screened-in porch.

All in all, I liked this activity. P&K were not ready to transfer water from one bowl to another, but I liked that they played with a new texture and I had virtually no clean-up!

*Tip- Only put one or two drops of food coloring...it will stain for several days. No green hands!!




They loved stomping in the water when we were finished. Also, I gave them some chalk when we were done. Drawing in the water was a hit because the color was brighter and different than what they are used to seeing on dry ground.

p.121 The Toddlers Busy Book by Trish Kuffner