Fun Water Games for kids to play in the Garden!

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If it’s hot where you are – the easiest way to keep kids happy is with some Garden Water Games! I’ve always kept in mind the parenting advice from A Cup of Jo where she said – if you’re having a tricky day with children: ‘Just Add Water’. Splashing and playing in water has always been a favourite activity for our kids at any age. I guess they think water and sand play is the next best thing to the beach, plus it’s imaginative and it’s sociable too – you can have great garden water games with friends! I’ve never met a kid who doesn’t love water play! As they get older, water games and water activities are still lots of fun for the summer months.  So today, I’m sharing some of my favourite Summer water games for you and your kids to play in your garden or at a park! 

Bonus: All of these activities are easy to set up, using things you already have around the house. And each water game or water activity has been tried and tested by our 4 kids aged between 2 and 10 years old, all have received a big ol’ stamp of approval from these hooligans! We’ll be using these at my daughters 11th Birthday which is planned for late Summer!

Fun Water Games for Kids to Play in the Garden!

1. Hole in the Bucket

This is a fun water game for the garden to play with large groups of kids. It also works well in a field or park. Fill up a large rubbish bin or bucket with water and place two empty buckets about a metre or two away. Split kids into two teams and give each team an empty cup or for more fun an empty plastic milk carton with around 10 holes in the bottom. When you say “go,” the first player from each team fills their carton/ cup with water, then places it on their head while they walk or run to their team’s empty bucket. They empty the remaining water into the bucket, then run back, passing the carton to the next player. The first team to fill its bucket with the most water wins the game. 

2. Simple Water Balloon Target

Another fun water game for kids to play is to number each of the children you have playing. If you have multiple ages, start in age order so the youngest is aged 1 upwards. Fill lots of water balloons and place in a bucket. Kids take it in turns to try and throw water balloons at the numbered children where they score points. Person with the most points wins! Throwing a water balloon and hitting the child labelled one, for example, gets you one point. This is a great game to play with Bunch O Balloons as you can fill 100 water balloons in sixty seconds and they self tie – meaning there’s very little prep involved for a game! I was also really excited to find out that the Zuru Bunch O Balloons are both recyclable and biodegradable – a plus as you can read here how we’re trying to cut down on our plastic waste. The only organisational tip with this water game is you’ll need someone to keep score!

If you are fed up, fiddling around with filling up water balloons. Check out this nifty gadget to fill water balloons quickly from your tap all at once!

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3. Water Relay

For this game, split the kids into two teams. Each team has two buckets and a sponge. Fill one of the buckets with water and put it a way in front of the empty bucket. The point of the game is that one player from each team takes their sponge, runs down to the full bucket, fills the sponge with water and runs back to squeeze as much water as possible into the empty bucket. Then the next player goes and so forth, like a relay. The team with the most water in their bucket wins.

You can do this game without a sponge too – use cups instead but set a timer so it’s the teams who fill their bucket in the fastest time that wins which means they have to run with a full cup of water and try not to spill any.

You can also do this variation where you run with the sponges on you head as suggested by playparty.com (Photo courtesy of playparty.com)

4. 

Paddling Pool Toe Hunt

For this you’ll need a kids paddling pool and all sorts of toys – that both float and don’t. Bath toys, toy rings, bath ducks etc…..

When you say go, players must try to fish out as many items from the paddling pool as they can with their toes only. The winner is whoever can get something out first or whoever gets out the most things depending on the age of the children (or grown ups) playing!

5. Water Gun Soft Toy Squirt

I love this water gun game from Living in a Happy Place – particularly for young kids who think they like to get squirted by a water game (but actually end up crying!) This encourages them to squirt old toys instead so it can be a fun hide and seek water game too! Check it out here: Water Gun Game for Young Children.

6. Water Balloon Pinata

Water Balloon Pinata is a great outdoor game for gardens of any sizes and also a great water game for parties. All you’ll need water balloons, some string and a stick – it works like a regular pinata but kids take turns to pop the water balloons instead. See Red Ted Art’s Water Balloon Pinata with a fab video to explain how it works too!

(Photo Courtesy of Red Ted Art)

For loads more fun that you can have water balloons – see this post here from Carrots are Orange.

7. Sprinkler Sharks and Minnows

There is an amazing ultimate list of water games at Play Party Plan, this is one of my favourites! If you have a sprinkler, this is a great game for lots of kids. Set up the sprinkler in the middle of the garden. One person is the shark (this could be an adult if you’re playing the game with younger children. The shark has to try to catch the fish (the other kids) and turn them into sharks, they obviously cross the sprinkler when doing so! You can also play where the sprinkler is also a shark and turns other kids into sharks. See here for the Ultimate list of Water Games for Kids to play.

After the water games and fun in the sun, you could try an apple and blackberry ice lolly from our recipe here to keep the summer party going!

For other outdoor game fun – you can check out our ideas here….