FUNtastic ways to #EnjoyMoreWater this summer!

We all know that water is essential. Everyone needs water. Yet Robinson's have found 42% of children say water tastes boring!

We want to prove that water can be fun fun fun. SO. MUCH. FUN.

Summer is the perfect time for splashing about and water play, for picnics and playing. We've been busy having fun with water - both playing with it and staying hydrated with it. Here's our video showing what we've been doing to #EnjoyMoreWater....


We had a great time putting together this video but we've actually got a few more ideas for making water that bit more special with a little help from Robinson's Squash'd.

Make Water Cool

We used Robinson's Squash'd to make some cool flavoured ice lollies. Simply squeeze a tiny bit into lolly moulds, add water and freeze. A fantastic way to stay hydrated this summer.

To give your drinks a pretty and flavourful twist, you can also make some awesome ice cubes using herbs, edible flowers or pieces of fruit. It's a great opportunity to chat to the kids about the importance of only picking edible plants from the garden. Herbs like mint, coriander and basil can be used. Edible flowers like chive flowers, forget-me-nots, and rose petals also work well.

Perfect for Picnics

Miss T's favourite summertime activity is lying on a picnic blanket and watching the clouds in the sky. A great opportunity for learning about how clouds are formed and to use imagination to see what shapes you can see in the clouds. We've spotted imaginary dragons and castles and lions. 

We found Robinsons Squash'd to be the perfect picnic companion as it is such a neat little container that fits so easily in a pocket or picnic basket to stay hydrated all day! 

It's so easy for little hands to use too so the kids can help themselves to drinks without me having to supervise so closely. 

Learning fun with water

After all that cloud watching you can follow up with a fun experiment that shows the water cycle in action. My kids love to hear the amazing fact that pretty much all the water on planet earth is the very same water that's been around since dinosaur times. That's a cool fact! It just goes through the water cycle again and again. 

Using a bowl, a smaller glass to fit in the bowl, some cling film and a pebble you can make your own water cycle experiment to show how evaporation and condensation works. You start with the water in the outside bowl and the idea is that it evaporates, hits the cling film, condenses and then runs down into the glass and you end up with water in the glass which started out empty. 

Pond dipping is another water based activity with huge learning potential. Look out for free organised pond dipping sessions run by local wildlife and conservation trusts near you or print off some insect identifying sheets and head off yourselves to see what you can find. 

Silhouettes and Snow - Water play in many ways! 

Now I'm going to share with you some of my absolute favourite forms of water play. Of course there's the obvious paddling pools and water guns but my real favourites are a little more unusual and will totally blow the kids minds. 

Water Silhouettes

On a hot sunny day, set your hose to the fine mist setting. Then get the kids to lay on the patio. They can make different shapes with their bodies. Then spray a fine mist of water over them. This will cool them off and when they stand up they will see a cool silhouette shape that is left on the floor! 

It soon dries out on a hot day and you can repeat over and over. 

SNOW!!!

Yes I said snow. In summer. Yep. Snow. Whenever we are lucky enough to get a snowy winter, I save a couple of small tubs of it in the freezer and then get it out on the hottest day of the year. It doesn't last long but the short while that the kids can play with it before it melts is a fab sensory experience of the two extremes of hot weather and freezing cold snow. And seeing it out of context makes it all the more special. 

Painting with water

A simple activity that's far less messy than getting the paints out is to get some chunky paintbrushes and buckets of water and 'paint' anywhere the kids wish to in the garden...the patio, the walls of the house, the fences. 

Giant bubbles

Since I discovered that I could make my own giant bubbles, I have loved getting out in the garden and seeing just how big the bubbles will get. The secret ingredient is glycerin. So as well as using water and washing up liquid to make your bubble mixture, add in some glycerin to stop those bubbles bursting before they've grown really big. 

A home made bubble wand can be made using strings and sticks too! 

I hope you can see why we think water is fun to play with and fun to drink too with a little help from Robinsons.

This post is an entry for BritMums #EnjoyMoreWater Challenge, sponsored by Robinsons You can find out more about the challenge here. We were lucky enough to be sent some Robinsons Squash'd to try. All opinions are our own.