My daughter is so excited about the release of Disney / PIXAR's Finding Dory, so we had a fun little Finding Dory party with snacks and crafts and we got to take a closer look at the Step2 Finding Dory Swim & Swirl Water Table. Check out our Finding Dory Party Ideas and see this awesome water table in action.
Thanks to Step2 for letting me try out this water table!
I don’t know about your family, but mine has been eagerly awaiting Disney / PIXAR's Finding Dory for months, and the theater release date is finally almost here! My three year old LOVES Finding Nemo. When she heard that we will be going to see a new movie with the same characters, she couldn’t have been more excited! Add that to the look on her face when I showed her the box on our deck holding the Step2 Finding Dory Swim & Swirl Water Table? Priceless. As luck would have it, we had two days full of rain and storms before we were able to put the water table together. In the meantime, I had some fun coming up with a Finding Dory themed party!
Finding Dory Party Ideas
The first thing I think of when we’re having friends over is food and drink. I wanted to keep it simple so Harper (our three year old) could help me make everything. We made lemonade and mixed some blue food coloring in with the ice cubes to make them a little more fun; it looked really neat when the ice started melting! Then we made popcorn (barnacles) and put them in a giant shell bowl I’d had from a previous Little Mermaid themed party. Our Finding Dory party was shaping up nicely!
The best part was making the cupcakes; Harper was thrilled to run the mixer and to taste test the frosting 😉 She chose the blue frosting because it’s “the color of the ocean where Dory lives” and we put a Swedish Fish on each cupcake along with round sprinkles to look like bubbles. I’m not much of a baker but I thought they turned out cute!
The weather finally perked up enough for us to get outside and set up the Finding Dory Swim & Swirl Water Table, and I think I was about as excited to put it together as Harper was! My initial thought when opening the box was that it was so convenient that all the pieces and instructions were tucked into the ‘bowl’ of the water table. Putting it together was so simple and it took me less than five minutes, even with Harper ‘helping’ me. Each piece snaps together and set-up doesn’t require any tools. The water table comes with a plug so you can drain it, and it was a little tough to push in but I suppose it’s good that it’s a tight fit so it doesn’t leak.
The water table came with four adorable characters: Dory, Nemo, Marlin, and an octopus named Hank. If you’ve seen the extended trailer for Finding Dory, it looks like Hank is going to be a pretty fun addition to the cast we already know and love. All of the characters are squirt toys and they look exactly like our on-screen favorites - Dory even has her signature freckles!
In true toddler fashion, Harper squirted me and then insisted on squirting water in her mouth 🙂
There’s a handle in the middle of the table that kids can spin to create a whirlpool effect. Harper could really get the water swirling and she had fun making the characters spin one direction and then back the other way.
It also came with a slide that leads into the water table, and Harper had a great time pushing the characters into the pool! I liked that the slide and its base fit into their spot but are easy to remove for cleaning. Another fun feature was the flipping mechanism where you can launch characters into the water-as you can see in the photo below, Harper was able to launch Dory pretty high!
The Swim & Swirl Water Table also came with a slotted water scoop and Harper enjoyed showering all of the characters and watching the water pour down the slide.
We had a blast playing with the water table and all of its different features, and I can guarantee that we will play with it a lot this summer and for many years to come.
To wrap up our Finding Dory party we decided to make a handprint craft. Ever since Harper was born, we’ve enjoyed painting her hands and making animals with them, so she wanted to make the four characters from the water table. I painted her hands, and she stamped them on white paper.
Then we cut them out and stuck them on blue construction paper to look like the ocean. It was a fun way to end our busy Finding Dory themed day!
Buy it: You can purchase the Finding Dory Swim & Swirl Water Table on Step2.com or on Amazon.com.
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Disclosure: All opinions are 100% my own. I (Amber) received this item at no cost to facilitate this review. Amazon links are affiliate links.
Linda Manns says
These are such great ideas. My grandchildren would love this. We can't wait to see this movie. Thank you so much for sharing
Amber says
Thank you so much Linda! We are so excited to see the movie too - it looks adorable!
Amber Ludwig says
OH how fun!! I love your lemonade idea!! Super fun!! Your cupcakes turned out adorable too!! Love that the water table had no tools needed to put it together!! Super easy to put together and take apart for storage in the winter!! Plus yay for Dory and Nemo!! We can't wait to see them again!!
Amber says
Thanks so much Amber! I was pretty happy with how the cupcakes turned out--you never know when you're baking with a three year old and like I said, I'm not much of a baker 😉
The water table is fantastic, and we've played with it almost every day since we've gotten it (the weather in MN has been giving us a mix of amazing heat and then crazy thunderstorms, ha!) We LOVE Dory and Nemo also--can't wait for the movie to come out!