Roo thought it was so much fun! He had such a blast ‘finding fishes’.
It’s been years since I’ve thought about this craft/activity for kids, and to be honest it’s made me feel really sad that we didn’t get time to get the garden done before this lockdown so that we could re-do it now… I mean maybe we could, but whilst I’m considering it, I thought it would be a nice little blast from the past to share this with you, complete with images of the boys when they were tiny! Edith wasn’t here yet which means Toby was one and Reuben just three. This is such a fun thing to do and something that I would never have thought of but it is uber simple and easy to do! I found the idea on pinterest (you can find me on pinterest here) and as soon as the weather started to improve I had to have a go at it myself! The boys loved it.
Here’s how to make a garden water pillow:
- Heavy duty clear plastic sheeting
- Duct tape
- Hose pipe for water (or you could fill it up with a bucket, but it’s easier with a hose)
- Food colouring/glitter/animals/anything else you want! (optional)
This literally is all you need to get started. So easy to do and great fun!
Lie the heavy duty plastic sheeting down and fold it over to form a ‘pocket’. Use the duct tape to secure the base, top and majority of the middle, if you are adding anything like sparkles or little animals then add them now.
Leave a corner free and attach the hose pipe. You can tape the hose pipe in if you want to, or you can leave it as it is and remove it once full and tape the gap.
Secure the hose pipe into the ‘pocket’ with duct tape. Make sure there are no gaps and the plastic is completely sealed. Fill her up (just to note, my only critique for this is that it takes a long time to fill up, so have patience or make a smaller pocket).
Our garden is on a bit of a slope so I had to balance a chair on the edge while this was filling.
Its a brilliant sensory activity, you can include little sparkle or even toys inside *just don’t put anything too hard or sharp because it will hurt little feet*
Like an extremely large pat mat!
Of course this one thought it was hilarious!
This was hours of fun for the boys, they loved it and it really is so cheap to do. Better than a bouncy castle! You can add all sorts of things, here are a few theme suggestions:
- Sparkles and pink food colouring for a Princess theme (or Prince!)
- Blue food colouring and ocean animals for a deep sea theme
- Green food colouring for ‘slime’
- Red food colouring with fake eyeballs and fingers for halloween.
The possibilities are endless, although I would certainly recommend you do this outside (let’s face it, it doesn’t matter if it isn’t the best weather) as after a while of bouncy and rolling there are bound to be a few leaks.
Let me know if you gave it a go and enjoyed it 🙂
Harriet x
Think this is an amazing idea and will be doing this for my children cant wait xx
Fab idea. Where do you get the plastic sheeting from? I’m guessing home base/ B and Q?
Yes, its £8.48 at B&Q Fiona – you can’t go wrong can you?! Any local hardware/DIY store should have it though 🙂 I’m pleased you like it – I hope you give it a go! x