Clothesline Activity for Kids Laundry Day Pretend Play
Laundry Activity for Preschoolers: Fine-motor development and water play come together in this fun clothesline activity for toddlers and preschoolers.
Now that we’re enjoying warmer temperatures, we’re getting back into some of our favourite water play activities! Yay!!
This morning, I set up a small clothesline for the kids to enjoy some laundry day pretend play in our backyard play space.
Now, maybe laundry day isn’t a huge hit with us adults, but I’ll tell you, the hooligans LOVE washing doll clothes and face-cloths in a big bowl of water and hanging them on their clothesline.
The hooligans love playing with my wooden clothespins. They’re excellent for developing fine-motor skills, hand muscles and co-ordination.
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For today’s activity though, I brought out our camping clothespins. They’re bright and fun and colourful, and they’re slightly easier for little hands to squeeze open than the wooden ones.
What you’ll need for your clothesline activity:
String your rope up between two trees, posts or deck rails, and your clothesline is ready to go.
Next, fill a large bowl or bucket with water, and add a few drops of mild dish soap or a bit of laundry detergent. I like using our homemade laundry detergent for activities like this because it’s gentle, and doesn’t contain any chemicals or toxins.
The hooligans had a great time washing their cloths, squeezing the water out and hanging them up to dry.
Not only is this a fun water-play activity for a warm day (hey, what child doesn’t love splashing in a bit of water), it’s such a great activity for developing hand muscles. Squeezing and wringing out a wash cloth requires strength and co-ordination!
Using coloured wash cloths and pegs gives the children to explore colours and colour matching.
“I’m putting the pink peg on the pink cloth!”
Children love practicing real-life tasks. Pinning these cloths to the clothesline made them feel very grown-up.
And the baby had fun simply splashing in the water. So fun!
Oh look. Someone even decided to wash her socks!
This makes me think it would be fun to bring the doll’s clothes out, and let the hooligans wash those.
I think we’ll be doing more laundry tomorrow!
More outdoor activities for kids:
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Jackie is a mom, wife, home daycare provider, and the creative spirit behind Happy Hooligans. She specializes in kids’ crafts and activities, easy recipes, and parenting. She began blogging in 2011, and today, Happy Hooligans inspires more than 2 million parents, caregivers and Early Years Professionals all over the globe.
