Backyard Water Games

The Pea came home from summer camp today all bubbly and excited and full of stories about how much fun she had playing all sorts of water games with her friends. They were such great games that I decided to write them all down and share with everyone, because while really, all kids need to have some backyard fun with water is, well, water, these games are a great way to supplement the random splashing and spraying, especially during summer parties and playdates. The folks at Galileo Summer Quest have taken some popular games and cleverly modified them for water play. Just like those Kool-Aid mixes, all you have to do for instant kid-approval is to add some water!


Water Limbo
Take a hollow PVC pipe, about 4 feet long, and drill holes every 2 or 3 inches or so down its length. Stick a garden hose into one end and turn the hose on, so that water pours out the other end and drips through the holes to form a water "curtain". Alternatively, you could drill holes in an old hose. Have two people hold the pipe at each end. Play limbo as usual.

Water Kickball
Play kickball as usual. Instead of bases, use Slip-N-Slides, so that when a player "slides" into base, he really slides! The Pea told me they only had 2 bases/Slip-N-Slides, but it worked. Anyway, I'm guessing most families will only want to own 2 Slip-N-Slides at the most.

Dip Dip Splash
This is played like Duck Duck Goose, but with a dripping wet sponge. When the "It" chooses a "Goose", he squeezes all the water out of the sponge onto the unlucky (or, depending on how hot it is, lucky) person's back!

Water DodgeBall
This is played like dodgeball, but with water balloons or wet sponges. Basically, two teams stand on either side of a line, and throw their water bombs at each other. Frankly, I think any other rules are optional -- and in any case, are probably ignored, because what could be more fun than soaking your friends?



Click here to read more about The Pea's experiences at Galileo Summer Quest so far.