Meet the pouring station: the best toddler activity.
There’s nothing better than a pouring station. It’s simple. It’s easy. It’s basically free and it’s can keep a toddler entertained for so long.
Our water pouring station is one of my absolute favorite toddler activities and one of my toddler’s (25 months old) favorites to do.
RELATED: Do you need more outdoor activity ideas? I’ve got so many!
Setting up a pouring station is quick and easy!
The brilliance of a pouring station is it’s simplicity. This is one of the easiest toddler activities to set up.
Toddler activities don’t need to be fancy.
They don’t need expensive supplies or crazy long set ups.
They just need simple and engaging play – and this activity gives them exactly that.
RELATED: Does your toddler need some fun summer activities? Check these out!
You can set this up in SECONDS (no joke!)
Materials:
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- under the bed storage tub
- containers
- water
- food coloring
I started with my storage container to keep all the materials in one space. I love a defined learning zone and this does just that.
I grabbed various containers from around my house for my son (25 months old) to pour and dump from.
I chose to make some of the water colored – this is optional. Yes, it’ll turn to brown by the end but it’s fun in the beginning.
Why did I make this activity?
I set my toddler up a pouring station for two reasons.
- He loves dumping water (shocker: he’s a toddler).
- He’s going to need to learn to pour for himself someday so why not start this skill now?
Activities like this are called “life skills” activities – they teach real world skills that kids will need to use throughout their whole life.
Pouring is a life skill children must learn to do. Teaching them through a sensory bin is such a great low stakes way to learn… much safer than with a full carton of orange juice.
Yes, I do this activity inside the house too!
This activity isn’t just for outdoors. You can definitely make an indoor pouring station.
I always put a towel under the bin to catch any errant pours.
I love watching this activity play out!
This was an absolute hoot to watch.
My son did pretty good with aiming but had absolutely no concept of capacity – which is great because that’s one of the skills he’s learning here.
What else is he learning?
- Life skills
- Capacity
- Cause and effect
- Hand eye coordination
- Science (properties of liquids)
This activity is SO MUCH MORE than just pouring water.
Make a quick and easy pouring water station…
We give the Pouring Station two very excited thumbs up.
He played with this independently for about 20 minutes which felt like an eternity to me and kind of was.
Would your toddler love a pouring station?
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Phyllis says
Great idea! My youngest would have loved doing this (actually at 11, she’d probably still love this idea! LOL).
Thanks for sharing your post on the Simply Sundays link up party! 🙂
Elizabeth says
So glad you joined us for Tuesday Talk! I’m Elizabeth – one of the Tuesday Talk co-hosts: “All Kinds of Things” (allkindsofthingsblog.com)! I’m excited to pin this idea and share it with the followers in my new blogging space at thislittlehomeofmine.com!
So glad we’ve connected – Let’s stay in touch!
Elizabeth
Lady Lilith says
This looks like fun. Pouring is such an importnat skill. I will have to try this with my nephews.
Katie says
I love this! It would even make a great indoor activity during the winter!
Dawn says
Love this idea! I love how we can do it inside. We live in upstate New York and getting outside during the winter time just doesn’t happen as much! Look forward to try this idea out!
Chiang says
What a great idea. Thanks for this. Gonna try this out and am sure my boy will love this
Nosch says
Love how neat and organized you kept the whole activity.
We performed the same with my 18 Months old. Please take out time to have a look and share your feedback 🙂
http://adesimomsblog.com/water-pouring-station/
Phonic Song says
grt idea to keep kids busy in something..
Rolene says
This is such a wonderful idea! My tiddler also loooves water so we have different jugs in the bath. I never though to put some color in as well. Can’t wait to try it out.
Thank you for sharing.
Gift Idea Geek says
It’s such a brilliant DIY hack that I love because it could easily be a gift idea. Either grab your old tupaware and a large bin to make a fun pouring station for the kids in your life. Depending on the tupaware size, this could be quite the pouring station!
Thanks for sharing!
Andrew