Sparkly Water Table

Add a splash of glitter paint into your water table for a beautiful, colorful, sparkly water table. This is the perfect outdoor activity that will keep your littles ooh-ing and ahh-ing. Glitter paint isn’t just for paper anymore!

Table of Contents:

1. Sensory water play is 10x cooler when it’s sparkly
2. Kids love sparkly water tables
3. Materials
4. How to make a sparkly water table
5. Wait, wait, wait Is this going to stain?
6. Is a sparkly water table sensory play?
7. Three easy ideas for making your sparkly water table EXTRA fun
8. Sparkly sensory water play = 5-star Yelp review
9. Frequently Asked Questions

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Sensory water play is 10x cooler when it’s sparkly

One of the easiest ways to build and maintain interest at the water table is by changing the color of the water.

Color changes everything.

Dark colors feel mysterious, bright colors feel invigorating, and sparkly colors feel magical.

And to make sparkly water? It’s the easiest thing ever.

Related: Sparkly paint also pairs perfectly with our GIANT 10-foot coloring posters for kids!

Kids love sparkly water tables

And what’s not to love?

We love water tables so much so that we have them available for our preschoolers during every month of the year.

And once we discovered a sparkly water table? Well, we make these all of the time now, too!

Other fun water play ideas:

• Berry Basket Water Table Upcycling Activity
• Wash the Rocks Water Table Activity
• Dried Marker Water Table
• Dandelion Water Table

Materials

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• Shallow containers
• Glitter Paint – we used the Colorations brand here, but this mini set of glitter paint is equally wonderful
• A whisk or slotted spoon
• Water

How to make a sparkly water table

1. Fill your containers with water. These exact containers are from Dollar Tree, and while they’re not super thick, they get the job done and will last for a long time.
2. Add in paint! The paint needs to be mixed into the water, which is easier with some brands than others. If your paint is smooth and you can mix it in with your hands, fantastic. But, if your paint is a little chunky, mix it with a whisk or slotted spoon.

That’s it: two steps!

When the paint is all mixed in, it’s gorgeous and so inviting for your little learners.

Wait, wait, wait: Is this going to stain?

This is the most common question we get when sharing paint-dyed water, and the answer is generally no. The paint is so diluted that we have never had it stain.

If you’re nervous about staining, test this out in a small area or do this over grass! Play should be a stress-free, enjoyable experience, so do whatever you need to eliminate worry.

Important: to avoid staining, make sure you’re using kids’ paint (ex: tempera, BioColor, etc.) and not acrylic. Acrylic is an easy-to-find paint at local craft stores, but it’s not what you want for this.

Is a sparkly water table sensory play?

Absolutely! When kids are playing with water, they’re activating many of their senses:

• Touch: feeling the temperature of water (warm, cold, cool), holding scooping and pouring materials
• Sound: Listening to splashing, chatting with others, hearing the difference in sounds as water fills a container
• Sight: Looking at the different colors, studying the glitter moving in the water, observing that they can see toys in the water

Three easy ideas for making your sparkly water table EXTRA fun:

1. Add in your favorite plastic toys: From baby dolls and plastic dinosaurs to foam blocks and race cars. If it can get wet, experiment by adding it into the fun!

2. Add scooping and pouring materials: Think bowls, ladles, spoons, miniature pitchers, cups, and the like. Little humans are FASCINATED by pouring and emptying. The best part? You likely can raid your cabinets and find enough items to keep this exciting.

3. Bring this outside: When this activity is done outside, it often feels like it can be “bigger” as nobody is concerned about getting the bookshelf or class guinea pig wet.

Sparkly sensory water play = 5-star Yelp review

This will become a part of your regular sensory play rotation because it’s that beautiful.

Cue the sparkles!

Frequently Asked Questions