Easy, Cheap Summer Water Activities

Kids love to cool off by playing in water, but they get tired of the same old sprinkler or kiddie pool. Try these eight easy and inexpensive DIY outdoor activities to keep kids of all ages occupied and cool.

Liquid Chalk Paint

For outdoor art that is a step above sidewalk chalk, try making your own liquid chalk paint. First, purchase jumbo-sized washable chalk from a discount store, then break up the chalk into a powder by putting the chalk into a sealed plastic bag and pulverizing the chalk with a hammer, or grating the chalk using the smallest holes of a cheese grater. Add the powdered chalk to a food storage container, and mix in water (about one-half cup of water per jumbo size piece of chalk makes a nice consistency). You will have a few chunks, but the mixture should be mostly liquified. Repeat the process with different colored chalk until you have several different colors of chalk paint, each in its own container. Give the kids paint brushes and let them paint the fence, concrete porch, or sidewalk, then turn the hose on their creation to wash it away and begin again.

Squirt Gun Target Practice

When the kids get tired of squirting each other, set up targets for them to hit. One way is to simply draw targets with washable sidewalk chalk onto a fence. Draw several circles, starting with a small “bull’s eye” in the center, then add three or four more circles around the bull’s eye, each one bigger than the last. Assign each circle a point value and let the kids compete to see who can get the most points! Plastic disposable drinking cups also make great targets. Line up plastic cups side-by-side onto a deck railing or stack upside down into a pyramid shape and shoot away!

Soda Bottle Sprinkler

Take a clean, two-liter plastic bottle and drill holes all over the sides of the bottle using a handheld drill. Use a smaller bit and drill lots of tiny holes, or use a larger bit and drill fewer holes. Next, attach a hose connector to the end of a garden hose, then attach the bottle to the hose by screwing it into the connector. Turn on the hose and let the kids play! This sprinkler is fun just laying on the grass, or toss the hose with the attached sprinkler over the swingset or a tree branch to make a “shower.”

Water Pinata

Let the kids release some pent-up energy and cool off with a pinata filled with water. Take a plastic grocery sack and fill about halfway with water. Using the handles of the bag, tie the water-filled bag over a tree branch. The bag doesn’t need to be sealed. Let the kids hit the water bag with tennis rackets, plastic baseball bats or a wrapping paper tube. These water pinatas won’t last long, but getting wet is the point of this activity, so who cares?

Sponge Balls

Make fun “sponge balls” from dollar store sponges. Cut two rectangular sponges lengthwise into four pieces each, then stack the strips into two layers of four pieces each. Wrap a rubber band tightly around the midpoint of the stacked sponges. “Fluff” and pull the sponge strips until you have a ball shape. To play, give kids a bowl or bucket of water to dip the sponge balls into. Wet sponge balls are great for tag, target practice, or just tossing back and forth between kids!

Ice Excavation

Freeze plastic toys into blocks of ice for kids to excavate! Fill plastic cups or small food storage containers about two-thirds full with water, and then drop one or two small toys into each container. Freeze each container until the water is a solid block of ice, then remove the ice block and place outside in a large plastic bowl or metal baking dish. Now, let the kids figure out how to get the toys out of the ice. Offer options such as squirt guns filled with warm water, salt, or cups of warm water. Older kids can chip away at the ice with metal forks or butter knives. For a fun twist, try tinting the water blue with food color and using ocean-themed toys, or pair green water with tiny dinosaur toys.

Water Race Track or Lazy River

Kids love to watch stuff float down a stream. Here are two ways to create a mini river or water race track. For a race track, purchase a short length of a gutter (the kind on roofs) from a home improvement store. Set the gutter up against the seat of a lawn chair in the backyard so that the gutter slopes down to the ground. Place a garden hose at the top of the gutter and turn on the water. Kids can float leaves, dandelions or bathtub toys down the waterway. Set up two “tracks” side-by-side to hold a race. Make a lazier river by shaping aluminum foil into a gutter shape and put on the grass in a place where the ground slopes gently. You can use the hose to create the waterway, or let the kids pour water down your river with a cup or bucket.

Colored Ice Cubes

Take an ice cube tray and add several drops of food coloring to the bottom of each section of the tray, and then fill the entire ice cube tray with water. Once the cubes are frozen, dump the colored ice out into a baby pool or plastic bowl filled with water. Preschoolers will enjoy playing with the colored ice, and watching it melt and turn the water pretty colors. Since the water is tinted with food coloring, ice cubes will be safe to nibble on. Of course, parents should always supervise children when near any water.