Children love to play with water. However, using the paddling pool every day in summer can add up to a lot of extra water usage.
Even a modest size pool can use around 600 litres of water – the bigger ones can use up to 5,000 litres. The average daily water use per person in the South West is just over 150 litres a day. Refilling a paddling pool a few times a week can send your water usage soaring.
If you’re on a water meter, using a paddling pool will increase your water bill. Even if you don’t use a meter, you might want to avoid the hassle of the paddling pool. Here are some alternative ways to have fun and stay cool.
(If you’re playing with water in the garden, make sure you keep children under supervision and never leave them unattended with a container of water – even if it doesn’t seem like much!)
A den is a great place to stay cool in summer. You can make one by putting a sheet over a washing line or table, leaving your little one to play in the shade. Even a big cardboard box can be a great place to play – you could even colour it in for added fun.
Children love to use spray bottles – they can spray themselves, you, plants, the wall – this helps them to cool down and have fun with a lot less water than a paddling pool or water pistols would use. You can get special spray bottles for little hands.
There are lots of ways to play with ice in the garden – freeze some favourite plastic figures, or try adding a twist of colour to the ice. Children enjoy touching the ice, sliding it around and watching it melt. As it turns to slush, it’s also fun to bash it and crush it.
A washing up bowl can help keep young children occupied for hours. They can put their hands and feet in it, use it to do finger painting on a patio, float toys in it, add food colouring to it – just try not to let them tip it over right away!
Water butts start at around £30 and they’re easy to fit on the downpipe of a shed or your roof, giving a free source of water. It’s not clean enough to bathe in, but your kids might enjoy filling watering cans and giving your plants a water, or filling up a tub to dip their feet in.
If your little one is really keen to get in the water, head to your nearest swimming pool instead of filling the paddling pool. You’ll be able to enjoy a refreshing swim without the hassle of filling, supervising and cleaning a paddling pool.
If you do decide to get the paddling pool out, there are ways of making the water go further. You don’t need to replace the water every day unless it’s got really dirty – cover it with a sheet when it’s not in use, and just fish out the odd bug that lands in it. This will also help to stop water from evaporating away in the sun.
Once the water is done with, don’t just tip it out – use cups or bowls to tip it into watering cans for your plants.