Some of S's favorite activities are the simplest to put together. One such activity that is LOVED (yes, I had to use all caps since we do this at least once a week, if not more frequently) is what we call a "washing station". As you may have deduced, it involves washing things.
I'm not sure what it is about washing that is so captivating to young children, but it's such a favorite at our house. Sometimes S washes cars, or plasticware we've used in play...and sometimes her feet, or legs, or arms. Though more often than not, she washes this guy:
He is, at this point, the cleanest dinosaur you will ever meet.
To set up a washing station, you need some sort of container. Any will do - baking dish, plastic storage container, water table - you get the idea. If you have a toddler, you might want to consider setting up something like I outline in my Managing Messy Play post. A little bit of soap, a little bit of water, and something for scrubbing and you're ready to go!
I like to add an additional sensory component to our washing stations by giving S several different textured scrubbers. I bought all of these at the Dollar Store.
And there you have it! I cannot even begin to count the number of hours S has merrily played with this simple set up. Now if only I could find a way to keep that love of washing alive until she's old enough to do our dishes...
Please always supervise your infant/child at play. Please stay within arms reach and never leave infants/children unattended.
I say give her the dishes... :)
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DeleteI am glad I stopped upon this :) My 4 year old LOVES doing dishes with me (yes, I had to use caps, too, because ahe loves it that much as well!) and has been asking for a washing work for her school time. I never thought to use different things to wash with, such as the different types of scrubbers! She does, however, specifically want to wash the dishes - she loves the 'soaping', and she calls it - so that will come in very handy long term :)
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