A few simple items were all I needed today to engage Veronika in great water play, no fancy water table required. To set up, I simply set out a bin filled with water and asked Veronika what color we should make it. She requested blue!

I then set out a funnel, as well as two lengths of tubing. The latter were about 1 and 1/2 feet long and 1/2-inch in diameter. (Note: you can get these for mere pennies at a hardware store, cut to size).

Although my original intention was for the tubing to fit over the end of the funnel, Veronika was completely untroubled by the fact that they stayed unattached. She could fill the funnel and then watch the blue water trickle down.

She used it to fill the tubes, or to let it rain right down on her hand.

She also enjoyed filling the tubing directly from the basin, then lifting it up to watch the water slosh back and forth before dumping it out.

Pretty soon she decided that a few toys needed to take a bath. “They’re in the tub!” Veronika said with delight.

It was her idea to go trotting over to our marble run set and bring pieces over. I didn’t even realize she’d done so until I heard her call out, “It turns green!”

Sure enough, the yellow plastic in the blue water made the water appear greenish. She tried other segments, including a wheel that could spin when she poured the funnel over it.

Thanks to a towel underneath to catch any drips, this was fantastic water play with easy clean-up to boot.