Cool Kid Activity Ideas

Okay, so the temperature has soared and you and the kids are far from a beach. How do you stay cool? My suggestion is to test out the following cool kid activity ideas.

And, parents these kid activity ideas aren’t just for your children. Get in and get wet you’ll have a blast! It maybe just the thing to help you keep your cool for the rest of the day.

Sponge relays. Get a whole gang of bathing suit wearing kids together for some good old sponge fun. Divide everyone into two teams, stand them in straight lines and give each team a large, clean sponge. Place an empty bucket filled with water at the front of each line, and an empty bucket directly opposite, about 15 feet away. The first player soaks the sponge in water, than passes it over her head to the next player, and so on. When the sponge reaches the last person, he runs to the empty container, squeezes out all the water then goes to the front of his team’s line, soaks the sponge and starts the cycle again. The object of the game is to race to fill the empty buckets. The team with the most water in their second bucket wins.

Hold a bike wash. Give bikes, miniature toy cars, scooters and the like a good scrubbing and drying. All your child needs is a sponge, a bucket of sudsy water, and a towel. Older children might want to set up a neighbourhood business, charging a quarter to wash and shine their friends’ vehicles with the proceeds going towards the purchase of a box of Popsicles for the both customers and workers alike.

Garden hose limbo. This is a spur of the moment activity to snap the boredom right out the kids and cool them down at the same time. Expect lots of fun and laughter with this one. Turn on your garden hose and adjust your settings so you have a steady stream of water, and hold it parallel to the ground. Turn on some music and have the kids start taking turns doing the limbo under the water. Lower the stream after each round. Whoever stays driest longest wins. This game is guaranteed though to find everyone soaked in the end.

Water-balloon play. Help your child fill several balloons with water; then invite everyone to play a game of water-balloon ‘cold’ potato. Just before starting prick a few balloons with a pin and then start passing it around the circle. The obective is not to be the one holding an empty balloon.

Or, have a simple balloon toss where two players stand facing each other, one tosses a water balloon to the other. Then both partners take a step back and toss the balloon again. This is repeated until the water balloon bursts. The object of the game is to move as far apart as possible without breaking the balloon.

Another cool water balloon game is water balloon volleyball. Aside from a handful of water balloons you also need two beach (or large bath) towels. Divide the players into two teams and give each team a towel. Toss a coin to see which team starts. The starting team places a water balloon on their towel which is held taut by its team players. The idea of the game is to toss the balloon to the other team who tries to catch it on their towel and return the volley. The goal is to keep the balloon of the ground. A point is awarded each time the balloon is caught.

Paint with water. Armed with a few old household paintbrushes and a bucket of water, your child can paint a watery masterpiece on the sidewalk, a fence, wall or the driveway. Then he can watch his creation disappear as it dries in the sun, leaving a clear canvas’ for his next work of art.