Warm weather always makes our kids want to jump and play in the water all day long! Here are some fun water games for kids that will keep them entertained non-stop. You may even want to join in!
1. Water balloon skee ball: Have the kids fill up water balloons. Set up buckets at different distances and you can even assign them points. Have the kids throw the water balloons into the different buckets to score points. With younger kids, you can just have them try to throw it in the buckets without missing.
2. Sponge relay: Fill up one bucket with water and then set an empty bucket on the opposite end. You do this for however many teams of kids you end up having. Get the kids to line up into different teams. Have the first kid soak the sponge in the water and then run over to the empty bucket and wring it out. After they wring it out, have the kid run back and hand the sponge off to the next kid. The first team to fill their empty bucket with all the water wins!
3. Ping Pong Toss: If you don’t have a pool, you can fill up a kiddie pool with water to play this game. Put an inflatable ring in the pool and give the kids ping pong balls. Have the kids try to get the most ping pong balls in the ring.
4. How Low Can You Go?: Get a hose and use the water as your limbo stick and have the kids limbo under. See who can go the lowest!
5. Duck, duck, water goose: Have the kids play duck, duck, goose, but the goose gets doused with a cup of water. It’s a fun twist to a classic game!
6. Shoot the duck: Have the kids use their water guns to spray rubber ducks down a foil chute as fast as they can! Get long strips of foil and fold them up to make a gutter and get some water going on the chute. Have the kids spray the duck with the water gun to see who gets to the end first.
7. Musical Sprinkler: If you have a sprinkler that goes back and forth or rotates, this game is for you! Have one kid control the water and the other kids will dance around or run back and forth. When the water turns on, they have to stop and freeze in position. When the water turns off, they can move again. You can use music or not, but the kids can stay in the game until they are really soaking wet!
8. Go Fish: Set up a kiddie pool and toss in a bunch of different sponges, plastic toys, etc. Have the kids choose their fishing pole of choice – it could be an actual fishing pole, a long handled spoon, or whatever you may have in your kitchen that your kids might think would be a good “fishing pole.” Have your kids fish out all the different items in the pool. You can make it a race to see who gets the most as fast as they can or make it a leisurely fishing expedition.
9. Towel toss: Fill up some water balloons and have the kids use beach towels to try the toss the water balloons down the line without have them break. It’s a great way to learn some teamwork!
10. Spray Bottle Tag: Fill up a spray bottle with water and let the kid who is “it” use the spray bottle to tag others with a spray of water. You could do a freeze tag version where the kid who gets sprayed with water will have to freeze in place. They can be unfrozen by getting a high five from someone who hasn’t been tagged yet.
These water games for kids will be so fun that even the grown ups will want to be a part of these games! Even little ones will be able to play and enjoy cooling off with these games.
*This post was originally written for and published at BabbaCo.com prior to their acquisition by Barefoot Books.