Water play

As a kid growing up in the Willamette Valley, watering the yard was never a chore you thought about. If you had the good fortune to end up with a few dry days it was highly likely that temperatures invited children out to frolic in water. Mid-July through mid-September the amount of sprinkler play and the refilling of kiddie pools meant you didn't really have to think about your grass dying, unless you didn't rotate the pool location.

Now I live in Texas. It's a completely different story here. Watering the yard is a weekly check-off point. It's starting to need a creative aspect. It can literally take all day to water the entire yard and garden. At some point the fun of playing in the sprinkler disappeared. To combat this, we've tried incorporating learning play into the job.

Today, we tried various containers, floaty toys and nature items, some sunken things, a net, a hose on low, a flock of chickens and E. That quarter of the yard she was experimenting in got a well deserved drink. And so did she!