Toddler Tuesday: Water!

So, Texas. It’s hot! It’s a good time to potty train. Hello, naked days.

It’s also a good time to do water things. Toddlers love water. And, if you’re stuck at home potty training, mess is nothing right? What’s one more rinse off? If you’ve seen any of my Saturday Summaries, you’ve seen that my kids like to get messy*.

Here are some things I’d do if I were potty training this week. Because an accident on the grass sure beats an accident on the carpet. Keep the little potty nearby, turn on your watching eyes, and put up your phone. Have fun with your child!

Create a “small world” in a plastic box or water table. Give them a few scoops of dirt, some plastic animal figures, and some water. If you have little plastic trees or grass, all the better. If you have an outside with sand or trees–your kids are going to have a fantastic mess. Yay!

Fill up the water table. Dye the water with food coloring. Give them some cups with different colors of food coloring. Pull out all your bath toys–they’re different outside. Don’t have a water table? What about a plastic shoebox? My kids love blowing bubbles into the water.

Freeze anything you can. Freeze their animal toys in water. Freeze their cars in water. Freeze their LEGO people in water. Freeze some dinosaurs. Freeze them in ice cube trays. Freeze them individually in paper cups. Freeze everything together in one giant block of ice in your mixing bowl. This is an incredible hit with most kids I’ve met. Give them a bowl of warm water and some ladles, droppers or turkey baster, and a spoon to use as a chisel.

*I am aware that toddlers are a notoriously finicky bunch. Many do not like to get messy. Perhaps they would enjoy the “cleaning version” of this activity–give them messy things for them to scrub and clean. Messy cars and trucks, messy animal toys, messy pots and pans. Give them a bowl of soapy water and a variety of sponges and toothbrushes and dish scrubbers and let them do their thing. Have them dry off some toys you’ve washed.

Get to know your child as she gets to know herself. Potty training (and toddlerdom, of course) is about developing a individuality separate from her parents. How cool is that?