| A to Z of Summer Fun |
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| W of Summer Fun : SUMMER WATER ACTIVITIES |
Water play is a guaranteed good time for kids’. There really is no better way to beat the heat than to just get wet. Whether your kids are strong swimmers or new to the pool, they'll go wild for these cool and fun summer water activities. |
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Bucket blast |
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For this game, you need two or more children. Each child or team will need a bucket of water, an empty bucket and a paper cup. The first child fills the cup with water from the full bucket and runs with it to the empty bucket to pour their water into it. Both the teams continue until they empty the original bucket of water and fill the second bucket. The child or team with the most water in the bucket wins. |
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Butterfinger ball |
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This one is played in the shallow end of a pool. Butter each child's hand with sun tan lotion and then wet a large beach ball. The kids throw a ball back and forth to each other and have a fun giggly time trying to hold on to it. |
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Tug of war |
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Take a skipping rope and get the equal number of kids to hang on to each end. Place the middle of the pipe over a running sprinkler. Have a fun laughter time as they tug on the hose and pull each other back and forth into the water. |
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What time is it, Mr. Sharkey |
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One person is Mr. Sharkey and stands at the end of the pool while the rest of the kids stand at the other end. The kids call out "What time is it Mr. Sharkey?" and Mr. Sharkey says a time, such as 4 o'clock. Then all the kids take four swim strokes toward him. This continues until Mr. Sharkey answers: "It's lunch time!" and the kids all turn and swim back to the starting end of the pool. If Mr. Sharkey tags one of the kids, he or she is now Mr. Sharkey. |
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Marco Polo |
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To play this classic pool game, choose one person to be Marco Polo. That player closes her eyes and counts to 10 while the rest of the players scatter in the pool. After the count, Marco swims around with her eyes closed trying to tag another player. To help discover where the other players are, Marco Polo calls out "Marco!" to which the other players must respond "Polo!" Once she tags another player, that player is Marco. |
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Treasure hunt |
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Toss coins into a kiddie pool and instruct the kids to dive in and collect as many as they can. The winner is the child who brings up the most "treasure" in one go. |
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Water basketball |
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Throw any round thing into the pool, such as an inner tube or Styrofoam ring, which will be the basket. Then try to sink a plastic ball in the hoop. The "basket" keeps moving around and makes this game hoop of fun. |
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Water Gun Wars |
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The player who is “It” gets the water gun and must tag the other players by squirting them with the gun. The person who is tagged first gets to take over the gun and do the squirting. |
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Freeze-Up |
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Try this game on a really hot summer day in your backyard kiddie pool. Kids will love it.
Fill the kiddie pool with water and add ice cubes. Have each person try to remove the ice cubes with their feet. The person to remove the most ice cubes is the winner. |
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Sponge Tag |
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Give the person who is "it" a wet sponge. To tag someone, she touches the wet sponge onto the person. Set restrictions on where the kids may tag one another to prevent injuries, such as no tagging above the shoulders. |
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Water Race |
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Each team needs at least two players and two small buckets - one will be filled with water, and one will be empty at the beginning. The players stand at least 5 feet apart, each holding a bucket. One player dips his bucket into the tub to fill it. He tosses the water toward his team mate who tries to catch as much water as possible in her bucket. She then pours the water into the empty container. The goal is to fill the container before the other teams. |
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Pass-The-Ball Relay |
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Two teams form a line. At "Go" the player at the front of each line passes a ball over his head to the player behind him, who then passes it between his legs to the person behind him, who then passes it over his head, and so on. When it reaches the last player, he swims the ball to the front of the line and starts the relay again. The first line of players to return to their original order wins. |
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