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You are here: Home / Fine Motor Activities / 5 Educational Spray Bottle Games

5 Educational Spray Bottle Games

May 7, 2016 by Amy Smith

There seems to be some kind of fascination that kids have with spray bottles! What better way to sneak some educational value into an already motivating game than to incorporate learning and fine motor concepts into spray bottle play! Don’t let the simplicity of these games undermine their effectiveness in improving both academics and fine motor skills.

Improve your child's academic skills with letters, numbers, shapes, and words in these fun spray bottle games!

Squeezing the squirt bottle requires great fine motor strength and mimics the hand motion needed for scissor skills and pre-writing (pencil grasp skills).  Adding in educational value to these games is as limitless as your creativity.  Here just a few ways to incorporate educational concepts in spray bottle play.

 

1. Window Letters 

Stick foam letters to a window/or glass door panel and have your child squirt the bottle at the specific letter or word you ask them to.  This game will also work well in a bathtub on the tiled wall for indoor play.  Make sure you get the foam letters wet on the back to help them stick to the glass or tub tile.

window letters

2. Cup Shots 

Stick foam letters onto plastic cups (the letters will stick if you wet the back of them) and then instruct your child to spray the water at a specific letter.  Have your child shoot at that letter until the cup falls over.

letter cups

3.Tupperware  Words

Start by cutting out a piece of paper that matches the same size as the backside of a Tupperware container.  Next, write the learning concepts on the paper (such as words, numbers, letters, shapes, etc..) and tape the paper to the backside of the Tupperware container.  Finally, instruct the child on which learning concept you want him to squirt the water at.

tupperware gametupperware game

4. Sidewalk Squirts

Start by writing several different learning concepts in chalk outside on the sidewalk (such as words, letters, shapes, numbers, colors, etc..).  Next tell your child which learning concept to squirt and have your child find that specific concept and squirt it.  Spread the concepts out when writing them to add more gross motor movement and exercise into the game.

chalk

 

squirt words

 

5. Tracing Letters

Write out a large academic concept for your child (i.e. shapes, words, letters, numbers, etc…) and have them use the squirt bottle to spray the outline of the letter/word.  Take careful note to ensure that your child is tracing the letters with proper formation such as starting from the top and going downwards.   This teaches proper writing formation without having to actually write!

fun chalk word edited

 

Have fun learning new letters, numbers, and words with your little “squirt”!


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Related

Filed Under: Fine Motor Activities, Gross Motor Activities Tagged With: hand stregthening, learning activities, play, preschool

Disclaimer

Kids Play Smarter is a blog about general ideas, theories, and concepts related to the field of occupational therapy and the growth and development of all children. The information presented on this blog is not intended to serve as or replace occupational therapy services for your child. The information on this blog is for entertainment, informational, and educational purposes only. This blog is not meant to replace formal professional consultation or evaluation from a qualified clinician. All children need to have the approval of a physician to participate in physical activities, including those described on this blog. In addition, children need to be supervised by a responsible adult at ALL times when completing activities that are illustrated and described on this blog. The author of this blog is NOT responsible or liable for any damage, injury, accident, illness, death, or adverse reaction due to participation in the activities described on the website.

Comments

  1. Ashley McCargish says

    May 11, 2016 at 11:56 pm

    Great Ideas! I may try and incorporate some of these into our “outdoor center” time next year 🙂

    • Amy SmithAmy Smith says

      May 12, 2016 at 2:58 pm

      Thanks Ashley! 🙂

Welcome to Kids Play Smarter

Amy Smith I am an occupational therapist with over 10 years of experience working with children. I created this website to offer parents, teachers, and therapists FREE ideas, strategies, and activities that they can do with their children to improve their fine and gross motor skills, handwriting, academic learning, and regulate their sensory system all while "playing" (just playing smarter)! Read More…

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