What do you use for serving water when you're playing outdoors? I've been using cute little water bottles with various characters' heads, but my kids keep fighting over them so I want to put them away for a while. The dixie cups don't hold much and my kids down water when they're playing outside. Also, would open topped cups be an issue for falling leaves, helicopter petals, etc.? What works for you?

Reply

I have each child bring a sports bottle type that is left here. I wash them at the end of each day and refill them as needed. We keep them in a plastic basket type and carry it with us outside and take it back inside.

I love doing it this way,because we have a water helper of the day and that person passes out all of the water bottles to the other kids. Its so cute to see the 2 yr olds do it.

We have a few rules about them for outside.

1. obviously no sharing
2. you must sit down at the pic nic table to have a water break and put it back in the basket when done.
3. no walking around with them ever
4. no dumping, if you dump looks like you are all done

inside rules are pretty much the same, but instead of picnic table its the meal table.

when they bring in sports bottles i just ask that they don't have too many pieces to them that would make hard to clean. even though we are only putting water in them they do grow mold from the saliva that enters when drinking.

Reply

I found solid colored water bottles at Michael's craft store. I think they were around $3 each. Each kid is assigned a color. I also put them in a plastic basket.

When we go to the park, I just put the entire thing in one of my thirty one totes.

Reply

I found these really great (leak proof) water bottles at Costco. They came in 3 packs I believe. I have one for each kid with their names on them.

Reply

I do this exactly.

I used to provide them. Our first hot day they were thrown, dropped, left behind, etc.

I sent home an email that they were all required to send their own. We have the same rules but now if they don't follow them, it's not my bottle that breaks.

Reply

I do this also, but I wanted to add that I bought all the sport bottles myself and they all match, so I wrote each child's name on their cup in sharpie, then put clear fingernail polish over it. That way when I send them through the dishwasher 5x a week I don't have to keep writing names on.

Reply

I have the take and toss plastic cups with lids. Each child has their own character. ( toy story, Dora, batman, tinker bell, princesses, cars, Diego, etc.)
On the child's first day here they get to pick their character from the ones available and that's their character always.
To go outside each child gets their cup and carries it out with them and places it on the picnic table.
During the day it's always available indoors also on the meal table.
If we are going to be outside for an extended amount of time I fill up a pitcher and Take that out to refill the cups as needed.

Reply

thanks for sharing that trick about nail polish....I am so trying this.

Reply

Wow, those are all good ideas. I just bought each child 2 cups and one is always filled with water. I have a little table outside that they put it on and they have to grab them when we go back inside. Truthfully I use sippy cups as long as possible. Its just easier. (I know, I know).

Reply

My center provides the water bottle. The parents pay for it, it's part of their enrollment fee, so they get to keep if/when they leave the center. They're all the same bottle, so no fighting necessary. Due to the texture and type of plastic, Sharpie takes a while to come off, so we just write their names in Sharpie on them.

I use the clear nail polish trick on toothbrushes, though. I used to use masking tape, but everyone kept picking at it, so I gave up.

Reply

I have a very small group so I provide solid colored flip top water bottles/sippies (have 2 1yo's, sippie cups work better for them) for each child. Like another posted my kiddos are color coded for cups, bottles etc.

The kids know which color is theirs and are really good about only touching their own.

Reply

I do something very similar to daycare. All parents are required to provide a spill proof sip cup or spill proof water bottle to remain here. Only water is allowed in the cup. When inside the cups/water bottles sit on the edge of my desk (in our playroom). The children are allowed to drink whenever they need to but they must stand by the desk take a drink and then put the cup/water bottle back down. They are not allowed to walk around with them.

When going outside each child grabs their own cup/water bottle from my desk and holds it while lining up. When outside the cups/water bottles sit on the patio table. Children are allowed to drink whenever but they must stand by the table and drink then put the cup down on the table when done. No cups are allowed in the yard.

During meal times I use regular open top cups.

Reply

Outdoor drinking fountain

Reply

Would love to have one of those.

Reply

Yep, I bought 2 sets of these 3 years ago and we still use them. They go on every outing with us. The kids each know their color so there's never any mix up.

Reply

http://www.orientaltrading.com/color...t=straw%20cups

I use these although I take off the outer plastic and the coloring part. That leaves a solid color and I use a label maker to put their names on them.

Reply

how do you keep those clean? I find that mold grows up in the straws and i have to toss them out...

Reply

How long are you leaving liquid in them?

I've always used cups with flexible straws like that (for my own personal water cup) and have never had one grow mold before.
Mine gets rinsed out at the end of the day and put in the dishwasher for a good wash.

Reply

I misread that and thought you said you took 31 kids to the park. I was thinking you were either crazy or amazing!

Reply

The only issue I've ever seen with the flexible straws is kids chewing through them. One of my old centers used them and we never had issues with mold growing in them. They got emptied and washed/sanitized at the end of every day (massive pain when there's ~70 cups/straws). That center eventually had parents provide water bottles after too many kids chewed through too many straws, which then turned into a headache of matching lids to bottles, but that was for ~70 water bottles. I doubt it would be too bad for a home daycare.

Reply

Hahahaha! I would be crazy with that many kids I think!!
ROFL

Reply

IKEA $0.88 water bottles! They're super thin and PERFECT! I'm obsessed. I can stack all 8 of them in 2 hands, if needed. But most of the time I just throw them in a little bucket and take them all out. There's a bunch of colors and each of my kids have an assigned color

Reply