Warm Water Play for Calming Stress Relief

 The kiddos are stressed. They don’t always show it, or they show it in ways that don’t really express their feelings, but lots of them are stressed. We stumbled upon a relaxing, stress-reducing activity the other day - and wanted to share! 

The kiddos had found some tiny sea creatures to play with and, instead of just pretending to get them wet ...we pulled out some containers and some nice, soothing WARM water to splash around in. Just like in a warm bath, the kiddos relaxed and played ... for a loooong time :)

We’ve played a lot in cool/cold water, but hadn’t thought to try this. It was so nice to watch the children unwind and they did a great job of keeping the water (mostly) in the tubs! 

First, it was just creature play, then they poured and measured and made little waterfalls. After a while, they wanted to make “islands” for their sea creatures out of old plastic tops. One container got filled, then the water was poured into another, sizing the containers as part of the play. 

Later, a few ice cubes were added in, at the kiddos’ requests, to watch the melting. This was followed by more warm water to get back to cozy play :)  * their choice

They looked around for some fish to add to the mix but couldn’t find any. So ... we went to the recyclables stash and found that foam egg cartons can turn into great, floaty fish :) Rocks were added, like a “real aquarium” and we used a few grains of rice for pretend fish food. Pet play included naming the fish and creating tiny whirlpools for them to swim in :)

Fun was definitely had by all!! It was a great escape and a great stress reliever :) Here’s how long we played ...

Hope you can make some fun like this, too!