One thing I’ve learned over the years is that often the most simple activities are the best.  This week at Art Play Group we made Nature Soup, a concoction of lemons fresh from our lemon tree, rose petals, rocks, leaves and water with assorted shades of food coloring.  Let’s just say it was delicious! I was blown away over how much engagement this sensory water play activity got.  The kids loved it.  We have an old tea dispenser and all the kids stood in line patiently (ha!) for their turn to fill their cups and mix the brew.  All the different colors made the nature soup look so delicious.  They squeezed the lemons from tub to tub and had so much fun with the endless amounts of colored water in different buckets.  Nature soup is definitely something we will do again.  This is an awesome hot day activity for toddlers.

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I love the idea of kids using nature for play.  There are so many beautiful textures, colors and shapes to explore.  These kids were so busy creating their soup, blowing on it because it was clearly too hot, and sharing it with each other.  Imaginative play can have such depth to it.  In every moment there is communication, decision making, thinking outside the box, and so many opportunities for learning.

We used all kinds of paint brushes, serving spoons, cups and buckets to move the water around.  The plastic tea dispenser is one of our all time favorite summer “toys.”  My kids can play with it for hours.  They love to turn the spicket on and off and watch the water flow.  I love that it’s clear so we can color our water with food coloring to make it extra enticing to the kids.  You can keep a few buckets nearby and just keep refilling it back up.  It’s a little expensive but you can use it for years, so to me it’s a worthwhile investment.  We really love ours!

Even after all the kids left I found my little D still happily playing at the tea dispenser.  It’s about to get crazy hot out here in the valley.  This is one toddler activity I will definitely keep on the regular.