Cool Summer Fun for Kids of All Ages

Activities for Children During Summer Vacation

May 7, 2009

Water Balloons Great for Staying Cool this Summer, jdurham/morguefile

Summers can be challenging for parents who want to keep their kids from getting bored and away from the TV. Here are some cool, fun summer ideas for the whole family.

When the summer temperatures climb, so does the need to stay cool. Every member of the family is tempted to stay indoors under the air conditioning and become couch potatoes. To keep kids from gettnig bored, they need a combination of projects, activities and games to keep them busy. Here are some fun ideas that will incorporate exercise into cool family fun!

Summer Fun Indoors with Nintendo Wii:

Wii is a great way to help the adults and kids stay cool indoors, while having some fun that requires them to burn a few calories. The energy level required for each game varies, with some games played sitting down, and others that require movement. Players can actually work up a sweat bowling, playing tennis, or boxing using the motion controller. The Wii website has videos that show real people playing the games. If the family likes to dance or karaoke, the Wii “Boogie” game is a fun way to incorporate both. For the family that is trying to get in shape, there is the Wii Fit, which incorporates fun fitness moves that can be done competitively. Battle a friend ski jumping, hula hooping, dodging soccer balls or doing push ups. Who needs to head outdoors in the heat to get some exercise?

Keep Kids Cool with a Summer Squirt Gun War

Organize a squirt gun war for just the immediate family or challenge extended family members or even other families. Each "kid" needs at least one squirt gun and each team will need a water refill station such as a large bucket or barrel. The “water battle” can be in a park, school field or large backyard. Nothing is more fun for kids than drenching parents, aunts and uncles, and grandparents!

There is a wide variety of squirt guns available in the stores and online, from the little plastic pistol type to Water Blasters and super soakers. Some come with shoulder straps and can carry as much as 6 lbs of water! After the first war is held, everyone will up their arsenals for the next war.

Fun Summer Activities for Kids - Water Balloon Games and Fight

Water balloons will never go out of style. Plan a water balloon event, playing games involving water balloons, such as a water balloon toss, a water balloon target throw and finally a battle. Filling up the balloons by hand can be a pain, but there are water balloon fillers that can be attached to the garden hose. In fact the Water Blaster has a water balloon tip just for that purpose.

Water Balloon Toss: Break into teams of 2, and make two lines, each partner facing each other. In each team, one partner tosses the water balloon to the other. They each step back one step and the balloon is tossed back, this continues until the balloon is broken, and that team is eliminated. The last team with an unbroken balloon wins.

Water Balloon Target Throw: Create a target range with people as targets. Position all but one person as targets on pre-marked numbered spots, each spot at different distances from the shooter with different point values. The shooter keeps throwing balloons until they miss, at which time, everyone moves up one position, the front "target" becoming the shooter, and the shooter becoming the furthest target. Whoever makes the most hits and points, wins.

Water Balloon Fight: There’s probably no need to explain this. Fill up the balloons, and battle until all the balloons are gone. There are water balloon launchers that can be incorporated into a more organized balloon fight, that can launch the balloon as far as 250 feet!

After any water balloon fun fest, a watermelon eating contest or seed spitting contest is a good follow-up since everyone is already a mess!

Duck Duck Goose Water Play for Kids

Create the old favorite, Duck Duck, Goose circle, but give the "fox" a cool cup of water, which he will pour over the head of the chosen goose!

Keeping cool and having fun in the summertime, just takes a little pre-planning and imagination. In order to keep the cool fun happening all summer, assign someone in the family in charge of fun, and make it a rule that one event is planned every week. Make it a summer so fun, they’ll talk about how “cool” it was, all school year.