Summertime=Sprinkler Time

There's almost nothing that captures joy and childhood freedom as much as playing in a sprinkler. Hopefully you have memories of running, leaping, and throwing your arms up in abandon and delight as you ran through the sparkling water, memories of brushing your teeth with the water jets and playing keep away. The exploration that's possible with this seemingly simple apparatus is endless. 

Sprinkler play was a typical summer activity in the Memphis suburb where I grew up. I have memories of different types of sprinklers-- there was the short one that ran along the hose with two spinning water wheels. That one was particularly fun to play with because it squirted so low to the ground. We made a game of jumping over the water. And there was the classic, back and forth, arch sprinkler. That is the model that I would like to discuss today. 

For our household, my husband procured a standard arch sprinkler, but with two adjustable components for width and flow. For Caroline's first excursion into sprinkler play, I started with the sprinkler on narrow and full blast so that the water went so high that it seemed like rain to her. We had fun running under the arches and getting wet. Then, when she was comfortable with that, I put it on the widest setting so that the water was just her height. At this point, she was ready to play and engage and even put her face and mouth into the water : ) SO MUCH FUN. 

It was also fun and good for me. Nothing is too important that I can't play in the sprinkler for a little bit. Soak up the joy and fun. Maybe what the world needs is a few more sprinklers.