Summer Fun with Water Games

The Summer heat has officially arrived in So Cal, and if your kids are anything like ours, that means they’ve probably cooped up in the AC on some screen. And we get it; we don’t feel like doing much when the temps rise, but attached to a device is probably not how we want our kids to spend their summer! 

Hot weather is the perfect excuse to bust out some fun water games that will keep your kids occupied for hours. We’ve gathered a bunch of fun ones to help cool your kids down and keep them off the screens. Bonus Tip: to keep the water playing outside rather than inside, fill a small cooler with ice and throw in some water bottles, juice, snacks, or popsicles for your kids to grab on the go!

Water Relay

This game would be hilarious and so much fun even the parents will want to get involved. The game involves having your kids sit in a row of chairs (if you need a visual, check this site out), each holding a cup or bucket. The child in the front has water in their cup and must pour it into the cup of the child behind them, and so on. The idea is to pass as much water as you can without getting wet into the cup at the end of the row. This game works great if you have a bunch of neighborhood kids hanging together so you can split them into two teams. Once the person at the back has had their cup filled, they race to the front, and everyone moves one seat back. Keep going until the cups run dry and reset!

Water Painting

This game works best on really warm days and can be super simple. Essentially all you need is a bucket of water, a clear driveway or sidewalk, and some paintbrushes. Let your kids “paint” a masterpiece using the water. The water will dry fairly quickly, allowing them to make new paintings for hours! If you want to take this one up a notch, you can add washable paint to different buckets to dilute it and add some color to their works of art. The added bonus is that after the kids are done, you can wash off the driveway while they run through the water!

Ice Excavating

This one is so fun and easy, and you can do it with supplies you already have lying around. Simply fill a bowl, food container, or cake pan with random trinkets from your kid’s room (legos, dinos, doll accessories, pennies, rocks, whatever!) and fill it with water. Let it freeze overnight, and the next day pop them out. Give your kids a spoon or popsicle stick to excavate their toys! You can even prep this ahead of time to have a week’s worth of icy fun.

Super Soaker Balls

We love water balloons as much as the next person, but let’s admit it, they are a pain to clean up all the little plastic bits! A reusable alternative is super soaker balls. These you can find in nearly every store this time of year; however, you can also make your own using items you’ve probably already got lying around. This blog has a great tutorial on how to make them out of sponges and string! The added bonus of the DIY version is they are much softer, meaning your kids are less likely to, well, give each other giant water ball induces welts!

Car Wash

Hear us out, we know that some people take washing their car very seriously, but if you’re not one of those people, why not let your kids have some fun and take care of a chore at the same time? Even better, you can suggest they offer to wash the neighbor’s cars too to earn a little cash (that they definitely will want to use to buy some ice cream after they’re done!).

Water Blob

This one is a little more labor intensive but looks like a ton of fun we can’t wait to try it with our kids. This blog has a step-by-step tutorial to make it easy, but essentially using some heavy-duty duck tape and a thick plastic paint dropcloth, they can create a water “pillow” of sorts for your kids to jump, roll, and bounce on! The tutorial suggests adding glitter in yours for a little added magic, but if you’re not a fan of glitter all over your lawn, you could add some washable paint inside to give it a little color!

Ice Toe-pades

This water game will be a big hit with little children, but everyone can get in on the fun. Fill a small bowl with regular ice cubes and add a handful of ice cubes dyed with food coloring. Your kids will sit on a chair and try to pick the colored ice cubes out of the bowl using only their toes! Make it a competition for old kids by timing it to see who can get the most colored ice cubes in one minute. An added challenge for older kids is to add water to the bowl to make the ice even trickier to grab!

While classic water games like slip N slides, water guns, and running through the sprinklers are always a hit, we hope some of these ideas help keep you and your kids cool even on the hottest days!