Backyard Entertainment For Kids That Will Blow You Away.
Let’s face it, this coming summer you won’t be taking your kids to the public pool. The kids will have an entire summer with absolutely nothing to do. If you’re like most people, having an in-ground pool installed is just way too expensive.
The question is, “What are you going to do with the kids all summer long?” We have to keep them home for the most part. We don’t want them sitting in front of the television all day or on their games or their phones. Children need to be able to get outside and exercise in a fun way. They need to get some sun.
What better way than to turn your yard into an entertaining water park (well sort of) for the kids? We’ve put together some water games that we think the kids will enjoy and that also will not break the bank.
WATER BALLOON FIGHTS
This is a tried-and-true water activity that has been around forever and is still just as fun. But for those who have never played it, it’s simple. Buy a bunch of balloons (now they make balloons especially for this game) and fill them with water. Once they’re filled, split them up evenly between players, get on opposite sides of the yard and try hitting your opponent with the balloons. You may get hot chasing the others, but you’ll get cooled off as soon as you get hit with one of them.
HOMEMADE SLIP & SLIDE
Another tried-and-true fun time water activity. If you don’t want to go 9out and buy the original slip and slide, it’s so easy to make one at home. Either tarps or Visqueen will do the trick. Spread it out all the way across the yard. Some people use shampoo but that burns the eyes, so for better slipping and sliding, wipe the tarp down with Vaseline. Add lots of water to it. Take off running and slide on your tummy!
HOMEMADE KID OR BIKE WASH
We did this as kids, and it was so much fun. You will need lots of PVC pipes and water noodles. Use the PVC pipe to make two big rectangles (cutting holes in them to attach them). Using more pipe for the legs you’ll have to attach one rectangle to the other. One is on the ground and the 0ther is about five feet above it. Choose one end to cut a hole and insert the water hose so the water will flow through all of the pipes. Now cut holes all down the sides of both rectangles and insert the pool noodles into the holes. The noodles need to be about eight inches long. Have someone stand in the middle of the rectangles, aim the noodles in their direction and turn the hose on and watch them get soaked. Y9u can also turn this into a bike wash. Have your friends pull through on their bicycles to get them washed.
WATER GUNFIGHTS
Kids today have it so lucky when it comes to this. When we played this game all we had was little pee shooters that we had to fill up a million times. Now they have huge super soakers. These things are a blast. Invest in a few of them and the kids will spend all day chasing each other around the yard. They’ll definitely be getting their exercise in.
TAG SPLATTER BALLOONS
This is a version of paintball, it’s just not as dangerous and it’s a lot more fun. Mix together food coloring, water, and a little bit of flour or cornstarch. Fill some balloons with this mixture. Put all the balloons in a tub in the middle of the yard. Draw straws to see who is “it”. That person has to run to the tub and grab a few balloons while everyone else scatters. The object is to hit someone else with the balloon and once you do, that person is it and has to run back to the tub and get balloons to hit someone else.
SLIP AND SLIDE WATER SOCCER
For this game, you will need two pool noodles, a soccer ball, a tarp (or Visqueen) water, and Vaseline. Spread the tarp out and wipe it down with Vaseline then add lots of water. On each end of the tarp, bend pool noodles into a semi-circle and stick the ends into holes in the ground to make a “goal”. Play soccer as you normally would but have fun trying to stay on your feet long enough to score.
WATER BASEBALL
This game is really simple, but anyone standing close enough to the battery gets wet. Simply fill balloons with water and use them as the ball instead of a baseball. For even more fun, have the people on the first, second, and third base all have a tub of water balloons close by them, and every time someone makes it to their base they get to hit them with a water balloon.
These are just a few of the water activities you can do for your children to have some fun outside in the heat this summer.
