
Understanding Water
Preschool water activities.
— January 24, 2025
“‘How does the water
Come down at Lodore?’
My little boy asked me…”
Roberty Southey wrote the poem The Cataract of Lodore in 1820. For many, many years children have been fascinated by water in all it’s forms and places of residence. Snow, rain, cloud, steam, ice, pond, river, ocean. This is still true today and so this week of preschool water activities is just as intriguing to 3-5 year old’s as the activities are fun to do.
The following preschool water activities have been imagined and designed for a homeschool learning environment or to be activities and experiments to challenge your 3-5 year old with on the weekends! To read full details on each activity, access coloring pages and printables you can follow the button below!
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A sample schedule for preschool water activities.
Monday highlight: Introduce the new letter W with books and more.
Beginning a week on a relaxed note is always a good thing, in my opinion. So today we simply read water themed books. I chose two that were light on the educational but still enriching and informative. The Cataract of Lodore and Water Can Be… by Laura Purdie Salas. After books, I introduce the new letter of the alphabet to my son, Ww.
Alphabet Wall Display
My preschooler instantly begins interacting with the new letter by tracing with his finger and coloring the uppercase and lowercase letters on his train car. This train car comes from the Alphabet Wall Display that is available here. If a train does not appeal to you there are more display theme options. Such as a caterpillar and squirrel with acorns!
After he finishes coloring in the letters, it’s time to hang on the wall and sing the alphabet while pointing to the previous letters. Now we play a review game. I ask him to point out any given letter and he does.
If he is unsure or gets it wrong I can prompt his memory by giving him the theme from that week. Such as this week’s Ww is for Water, I might say Gg is for Grape. This is usually enough to help him find the letter Gg. If not then we sing and point to the letters until we come to the letter Gg.
Okay, now back to the preschool water activities!
Tuesday highlight: Sink or float
Morning basket has adapted and changed as my boys grow older but the one thing that remains the same is that it has always been full of books to read aloud. For my 4 year old, I read his books first because otherwise he becomes distracted and it is difficult to call him back for his books.
After reading we spend time reviewing the letters of the alphabet that he has learned. Then, he gets practice with simple addition. This printable is from Uu is for Umbrella and we use it with dry beans.
After, he receives more memory work with the current letter of the week using a coloring page. This also allows me to set up the experiment in the backyard. This can also be done in the kitchen or bathroom if it is cold outside.
Sink or Float is one of the best preschool water activities.
Today’s experiment is Sink or Float. I provide instruction and assistance in hypothesizing to begin. Then we test a few and see if we hypothesized correctly. I enjoy this activity because after a while I can take a step back and the kiddos continue to find new items to experiment with.
Watching them collaborate to form a hypothesis for new items is magical. If there is not an older sibling who will lead the charge on this, like my 6 year old, then you can remain involved. Encourage your child to form their own ideas without much input from you.
Before going to bed I have my son help me fill ice cube trays with water and place them in the freezer. This is in preparation for the next day’s activity.
Wednesday highlight: Solid, liquid, gas
Water is Water by Miranda Paul kickstarted our Wednesday morning basket. My son loves using his wall display to review but he also enjoys putting together his wooden alphabet puzzle too. I only provide the letters he has learned so that he can concentrate his focus.
Next is the experiment. We’re going to get to experience every state of water and watch it transform into each state. We bring out the ice cube trays and gather around the stove. We are careful during this experiment but this is also partially what intrigues my son of course!
Thursday highlight: Salt water vs. Fresh water animals
After our typical morning routine it’s time for our sorting activity turned into a game. The printable can be found at Ww is for Water. See how to turn it into a game over there as well. My boys love the sorting activities. They don’t even realize they’re learning because it’s so fun and play based.
Preschool water activities.
Thursdays are usually our last day of Letter of the Week activities and lessons because Fridays are for nature group.
There is an additional activity at Ww is for Water for conducting the entire water cycle in your kitchen. This experiment creates the opportunity for your child to observe “rain” as part of the cycle. This activity was not included in this week’s list because not all activities that are provided are able to fit into a busy homeschool family’s schedule. This preschool curriculum is designed to give you ideas to pick and choose what will fit and which activities will intrigue your child the most.
For more book and poem suggestions, as well as coloring pages and more details on each activity you can go to Ww is for Water.
Creative activities for preschoolers.
Ww is for Water is a part of Letter of the Week. It is a 26 week curriculum that has been reimagined for all that home learning has to offer. It will challenge and encourage your preschooler to mature in their development and provide more tools for their imagination toolbox. Check out it at the button below.
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