Children's Water Games
Keep Cool and Get Wet With Games for the Pool, Lake or Backyard
Water games are a fun way to cool off from summer's heat. There are many wet games for pools, lakes or sprinklers.
Don’t let the heat keep children inside. Get outside and cool off with some water games. Following are games for a pool or lake, as well as some that can be played in any backyard.
Counting While Diving
Want to work on math while improving swimming skills? Throw a handful of change on the bottom of the pool and ask the children to bring back a certain amount, such as 24 cents. Add to the challenge for older kids by increasing the figure to something like $2.23.
Sharks and Minnows
One child volunteers to be a Shark in the center of the pool while the rest of the children become "Minnows" and line up on one side. At the Shark's command of "1-2-3 Minnows," the minnows attempt to swim across the pool without getting tagged by the Shark. As the minnows get tagged, they become the sharks and join in catching people for the following rounds. Continue until the last person is tagged and declared the winner.
Frozen Toes
This game is for a kiddy pool filled with water. Dump lots of ice cubes into the pool and give each child a cup or bucket. Children have to pick up the ice cubes with their toes. The child with the most ice cubes at the end of the game wins.
Duck, Duck Drench
This game is just like "Duck ,Duck, Goose ," except that as “it” walks around the circle it touches each head with a soaking wet sponge. When they say, drench, that person gets the entire sponge squeezed out on his head and then must tag “it” before she gets to the wet players spot. This can also be played with a cup of water that is dribbled and then drenched.
Over the River
All that’s needed for this game is a water hose. Hold the hose low to the ground and children line up to jump over the hose. After each round the stream gets higher, if anyone hits the stream, they are out. The last person wins the game.
Squirt Football
Here's a wet variation of a traditional touch football game. Divide kids into two teams. Each player carries a squirt gun. Players tag each other by squirting.
Sponge tag
All that’s required is a big wet sponge for this game. Players tag each other by throwing the sponge.
Water Bucket Relay
This is a fun game for a large group of kids. Divide them into two teams and set up an obstacle course with lawn chairs. . Fill four buckets to the top with water. Put two full buckets at each end of the course. At go, the first racer on each team picks up a bucket and runs to the end of the course, trying not to spill the water or bump into the other runner. Then the runners each grab a second bucket and run back to the starting point. The next runner on each team grabs the two buckets and runs the course. The team with the most water left in the buckets wins.
