Too Hot to Handle? Water Play at Home

The heatwaves of summer have officially arrived. Beat the heat with these fun ideas to keep your kids cooled off and occupied all summer long.

Water play is good for more than just cooling off in the summer! It can also help children develop gross and fine motor skills, as well as assist with social and emotional development, language, creativity and imagination.

Ice Block Treasure Hunt

Freeze water into a block of ice with some of your child’s favorite toys inside. Ideas for treasures include rubber balls, Shopkins, plastic animals, Legos and cars. Once the block of ice is frozen, give your kids excavating tools you can find around the house, such as spray bottles, measuring cups, forks and spoons, a syringe, toy hammer and screwdriver, and warm water. Now comes the fun part: Let your kids explore and dig for their toys. You will be surprised how long they will stay busy with this activity, and it will keep them cool too!

Sponge Balls

Create sponge balls by simply cutting sponges lengthwise into 4 pieces each. Then wrap a rubber band around the middle of the stacked sponges and fluff into a ball shape. These are perfect for a wet game of dodge ball!

Pouring Station

This is a fun activity for toddlers and super easy to set up. Place several different sized containers in a large plastic bin. The containers could be measuring cups, drinking cups, bowls or anything else you have around the house. Fill them up with varying amounts of water, and watch as your toddler fills the different containers with water. For a little extra fun and learning, add food coloring to some of the containers and watch your toddler mix the colors and be amazed as they change. Add in bubbles for even more fun!

Fill the Bucket Game

For this game, each team will need a bucket of water, sponge and container to squeeze the water into. Each player will take turns getting the sponge wet and running to the empty container to squeeze the water from the sponge into their container. The first team to fill up their container wins!

Sprinkler Splashes

Younger children will love running through your sprinkler on a hot day. For a little wet and wild fun for the older kids, just place the sprinkler under the trampoline or swing set for an afternoon.

Water Gun Fight

For the little ones, use small plastic squirt guns. For the older kids, bring out the Super Soaker guns! A traditional water gun fight is fun, but you can also create targets to practice shooting or work together to spray a beach ball across the lawn with the water guns.

Slip and Slide

The slip and slide never disappoints. My daughter and her cousin spend hours on their slip and slide. If you don’t have one, it’s easy to make one with items you have around the house.

Beach Day for Barbie

My daughter loves bringing her Barbies outside to play in the water and have a beach day. The Barbies are definitely not the only ones to get wet!

Water Pinata

Fill up several water balloons and tie them from a tree branch with string. Blindfold the kids and let them take turns hitting the balloon with a plastic baseball bat.

Make Popsicles

Nothing cools you off quite like a Popsicle on a hot day. Make your own using ice cube trays and craft sticks, or pick up a mold at the store. Mix in fruit to make these treats a healthier option.

Water Balloon Fight

A good old-fashioned water balloon fight is always a blast! To make a lot of water balloons in 60 seconds, invest in Zuru’s Bunch of Balloons. This allows you to rapid fill 100 water balloons in just one minute!

Hose Tag

Play host tag just like regular tag, but the person who is “it” has the hose! Whoever gets sprayed, is “it” next.

Water Limbo

Play the traditional game of limbo with a little twist. Use the stream from the hose as the limbo stick and watch as everyone gets wet!

Duck, Duck, Splash

In this modified version of Duck, Duck, Goose the child who is “it” will walk around with a cup of water. When they get to the person they want to tag, they yell “splash” and dump the cup of water onto that’s child’s head.

Wash the Car          

Put the kids to work without their realizing it! Get out the soap, water, buckets and sponges and wash the car together as a family. Let the younger kids wash their bikes and play cars.

Water Blob

Make your own water blob. It’s like a giant outdoor waterbed and keeps the kids busy for hours. Visit HomemadeToast.com for instructions. You can also find these to purchase at several retailers including Target, Kohls and Amazon.

Water Baseball

Let kids practice their batting swing with water balloons instead of baseballs!

Water Balloon Catch

Have one person hold a bucket above his head to try to catch the water balloons as the rest of the players try to throw them into the bucket. Take turns and everyone will be soaked in no time.

Regan Lyons is a freelance writer who lives in St. Joseph, MO, with her husband, 5-year-old daughter and soon-to-be-newborn baby girl.