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Round, carnival-themed water table has five colorful balls that can ride the twirling Ferris wheel or float in the lazy river – powered by kids. A spiral tower in the middle adds interest and increases physical play. Other elements include water-squirting balls, funnel with spinning wheels and a cup to scoop and dump.
Approx. Price: $39.99 Box Age Range: 2+ yrs # of Pieces: 6-10 Washability: Surface Wipe Storability: Bulky Directions: Simple Play Locations: Outdoor Adjustability: None Levels of Play: Three Levels Batteries: None needed
Visually Stimulating
Large Openings
Open-ended
Can Be Used Independently or w/Others
Promotes Active Play
Hands-on Approach to Learning
Different Shapes and/or Colors
Self-Contained
Simple
Fosters Imagination/Promotes Creativity
Tactilely Stimulating
High Contrasting Colors
Durable
Developmental processes promoted
Fine Motor
Hand and Finger Grasp
Eye-Hand Coordination
Spatial Relationships e.g. Under, Over, On, Off
Reaching/Arm Extension
Functional Finger Movement and Exploration
Core Strengthening, Trunk Strength, Stability
Coordinated Movement
Imagination/Pretend Play
Problem Solving
Wrist Rotation
Balance
Motor Planning
Creativity
Turn Taking
Matching
Sequential Thought
Counting/Beginning Math
Color Recognition and Identification
Action Concepts e.g. In/Out, Push/Pull, On/Off, Go/Stop
The water table provides a confined place for play that can help children maintain attention.
The water table is small in diameter to help children play in close proximity to others.
All activities are within close proximity and reach.
Play is open ended. There is no right or wrong way to play.
Children can play independently or together at the Spiralin’ Seas Waterpark.
The water table is large enough without being overwhelming to a child.
The water table and the play that takes place are easy to understand.
The water table provides tactile play experiences.
The water table provides ample opportunities for verbal and non-verbal communication.
The water table is large enough for several children to play simultaneously.
Skills
Pretend play and imagination can be heightened during play as children pretend the balls are people riding the Ferris wheel or sliding down the enclosed ball tracker slide.
Visual tracking can be developed as children watch the balls slowly spin on the Ferris wheel or descend down the tower. Visual tracking is a pre-literacy skill.
Children can enhance eye-hand coordination skills while they scoop and dump water, place balls in the Ferris wheel and into the funnel on top.
Pincer grasp is used to spin the Ferris wheel. This can help children strengthen fine motor skills needed for writing and daily living skills, such as feeding themselves and brushing their own teeth.
Verbal negotiation skills can be a part of play when children determine how to play together and take turns using the one included cup, spinning the Ferris wheel, activating the spinning wheels or dropping balls into the ball tracker.
Incorporate sequential thought by providing the child with actions to complete. Gradually add to the number of steps that must be done. This also works on memory skills.
Parallel, social and cooperative play can all be practiced using the Spiralin’ Seas Waterpark.
Children can work on making choices as they determine what area they want to explore.
Action words such as in/out, scoop/dump, fill/empty, up/down, and go/stop can be used and demonstrated to further understand their meanings.
Reinforce expressive and receptive language skills by giving children verbal tasks to follow.
Elaborate storylines can be spoken and acted out during play. This helps children organize thoughts and tell a story in order with a beginning, middle and end.
Sharing, turn taking and patience are encouraged during play with a friend.
Play Ideas
Provide open ended story starters for the children to act out.
Hold one of the faced balls in your hand and begin talking to the child using the ball. Encourage the child to pick up a ball and have it talk back to your ball. This may help alleviate some anxiety in verbal conversation because it is the ball talking, not the child. And it can help develop listening and conversational turn taking.
Label the action of what children are playing with. For instance, “The balls are spinning on the Ferris wheel.” Or “The ball is falling down the spiral!”
For added visual interest, add several drops of food coloring into the water. Have the child agitate the water to mix.
Pretend the water table is a water park and the balls are children sliding down the spiral slide or riding the Ferris wheel. Create open conversations about water parks including what to bring, who would be there, what would they do, where would they sit, how to stay safe, etc.
Take turns with a friend to be the water park worker who activates the rides.
Place all the objects, such as the balls and cup (you can also place the Ferris wheel and the funnel in the bucket if you desire). Have the child pick up and use each item in the bucket. When the bucket is empty, play is done. This may help children stay at the activity and maintain focus for a period of time and may also help to transition to another activity.
To initiate interaction, roll a ball through the water to the child and help him roll it back to you.
Have the child blow a ball across the water. This helps strength muscles used for eating and speaking.
Hold a bucket and have the child scoop and dump water into it. This provides a reoccurring pattern of movement he may seek.
Give the child very simple, quick tasks like, “Find a red ball.”
Adaptation Ideas
For children who become over-stimulated by many pieces, limit the number of accessories given to a child. Gradually increase that number as children become more familiar and comfortable with the set.
For children who may become over-stimulated, remove the Ferris wheel and the funnel from the water table. Note: The middle spiral tracker is a permanent structure and cannot be removed.
Clear the play area to include only this toy and its accessories. This will help lessen extraneous distractions.
For children who may perseverate on the spinning wheels, remove that activity from the water table.
The water table provides a confined place for play that can help children maintain attention.
Play is open ended. There is no right or wrong way to play.
Children can play independently or together at the Spiralin’ Seas Waterpark.
The water table is large enough without being overwhelming to a child.
The water table and the play that takes place are easy to understand.
This water table combines familiar objects with novel play. Children may be accustomed to water play with funnels and spinning wheels, but the introduction of a Ferris wheel and ball tracker may further enhance their experience.
Skills
There are three different colors of balls that can be used to introduce color identification.
There are two red balls and two blue balls to help children practice matching.
The five included balls can be used to incorporate simple math skills such as counting and AB patterning.
Pretend play and imagination can be heightened during play as children pretend the balls are people riding the Ferris wheel or sliding down the enclosed ball tracker slide.
Visual tracking can be developed as children watch the balls slowly spin on the Ferris wheel or descend down the tower. Visual tracking is a pre-literacy skill.
Children can enhance eye-hand coordination skills while they scoop and dump water, place balls in the Ferris wheel and into the funnel on top.
Pincer grasp is used to spin the Ferris wheel. This can help children strengthen fine motor skills needed for writing and daily living skills, such as feeding themselves and brushing their own teeth.
Cause effect relationships are demonstrated by pouring water into the small funnel that makes two wheels spin, squeezing a ball to squirt water and spinning the green turn spinner to create water movement.
Verbal negotiation skills can be a part of play when children determine how to play together and take turns using the one included cup, spinning the Ferris wheel, activating the spinning wheels or dropping balls into the ball tracker.
Play Ideas
Count each ball as it is placed on the Ferris wheel. Then have the child turn the crank the same number of times.
Create elaborate storylines of the “people” (balls with faces) going to a carnival and enjoying rides.
Try to place all the balls in the spiral tracker so they are all in the tracker at the same time. This works on speed and accuracy.
The balls are squirters. Teach the children how to hold them under the water to fill them up and then try to squirt a target, such as a rock outside.
Embellish play with cups and play objects, such as boats and people. Note: Make sure the items you add can either slide down the spiral tracker or are too big to fit down the tracker so they do not get stuck in the middle.
Add more “carnival” games to do with the included balls, such as a target game using a plastic container, bucket or basket. Or have a parade with the balls by sliding them down a slight incline made with patio furniture or toys.
Pour water in the spiral tracker to see how it moves down like the balls do.
Use a washcloth to cover an object to help children learn about object permanence – that the object still exists even if it is hidden.
Add a couple drops of one color of food coloring on one side of the water table and another color on the other side of the water table. Slowly blend the waters to show how they mix to create a third color.
Adaptation Ideas
For children who become over-stimulated by many pieces, limit the number of accessories given to a child. Gradually increase that number as children become more familiar and comfortable with the set.
Give the child time and space to explore the water table at his own pace. Note: Direct supervision is required during any water play activities.
Using water in play helps muffle sounds that may startle some children.
The water table provides a confined place for play that can help children maintain attention.
Play is open ended. There is no right or wrong way to play.
The water table is large enough without being overwhelming to a child.
All activities are within close proximity and reach.
The water table and the play that takes place are easy to understand.
The water table provides tactile play experiences.
The activities are bright, bold colors that highly contrast the beige color of the table.
The Ferris wheel and funnel with spinning wheels can be removed from the table and used independently if held by a caregiver.
The individual pieces and activities have sufficient visual and tactile detail to make them readily identifiable by sight or touch.
Skills
There are three different colors of balls that can be used to introduce color identification.
Visual tracking can be developed as children watch the balls slowly spin on the Ferris wheel or descend down the tower. Visual tracking is a pre-literacy skill.
Children can enhance eye-hand coordination skills while they scoop and dump water, place balls in the Ferris wheel and into the funnel on top.
Pincer grasp is used to spin the Ferris wheel. This can help children strengthen fine motor skills needed for writing and daily living skills, such as feeding themselves and brushing their own teeth.
Action words such as in/out, scoop/dump, fill/empty, up/down, and go/stop can be used and demonstrated to further understand their meanings.
The table is a good height to encourage cruising by holding on the edges and walking.
As children stabilize their bodies with one hand and activate the Ferris wheel, pour water into the funnel or place balls in the spiral tracker, they are naturally incorporating bilateral coordination into play.
Play Ideas
For added visual interest, add several drops of food coloring into the water. Have the child agitate the water to mix.
Experiment with water temperature by adding warm water or ice cubes into the water table.
Add a couple drops of an extract, such as peppermint to the water to include the olfactory system in play.
Embellish play with highly tactile or visual cups and play objects, such as boats and people. Note: Make sure the items you add can either slide down the spiral tracker or are too big to fit down the tracker so they do not get stuck in the middle.
Adaptation Ideas
If children are hyper sensitive to tactile play, use the water table without water.
For children who are hyper sensitive to tactile play, provide long-handled spoons to move the water and scoop balls without touching the water with their skin.
This water table is small in diameter allowing children to reach all sides from a stationary position.
Play is open ended. There is no right or wrong way to play.
The water table provides tactile play experiences.
The legs can be removed so the water table can be placed on a standard table or flat on the ground.
The edge of the water table is thick and good for a child to grasp.
The height of the water table is appropriate for young children who are learning to stand and walk.
The activities can be done with one hand to allow a child to stabilize himself with the other hand.
The activities are bright, bold colors that highly contrast the beige color of the table.
The water table is compact in size. Children can reach all areas while in a stationary position.
The Ferris wheel and funnel with spinning wheels can be removed from the table and used independently if held by a caregiver.
Skills
The table is a good height to encourage cruising by holding on the edges and walking.
The balls are a good size for whole hand grasping.
The balls are rubber and can squirt water. This helps children work on grasp, hand strength and control.
Reaching, arm and torso extension are targeted as children place balls or water in the middle spiral tracker.
As children stabilize their bodies with one hand and activate the Ferris wheel, pour water into the funnel or place balls in the spiral tracker, they are naturally incorporating bilateral coordination into play.
The action of scooping and dumping water increases wrist rotation and movement.
Play Ideas
Use hands to create a whirlpool in the water to move objects around. This helps children use large arm and core muscles.
Splash water to use arm movements. Children can learn how they can control the amount of splash by how soft or hard they hit the water.
Step back and throw the balls into the middle spiral tracker. The top has a wide rim to aim for. This helps children work on grasp, release and eye-hand coordination.
Use the green turn spinner to make water currents. Explore how spinning fast makes the water move faster and spinning slow moves the water slower.
Hold one ball in each hand and bang them together or squeeze to squirt water.
Have children hold onto the side of the water table with their strong hand and activate the different areas with their weaker hand. This keeps their strong hand busy while strengthening their weak side.
Adaptation Ideas
Enlarge the Ferris wheel crank by cutting a slit in a tennis or racquet ball and placing it on the crank.
Remove the Ferris wheel and funnel to help children cruise uninterrupted around the water table.
