{Image via Pinterest.}
It's steaming hot outside and everybody is looking for ways to cool down. If you don't have a pool or a lake nearby to jump into, have no fear. Here are 25 wet and wacky ways to beat the summer heat:
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Water Balloon Baseball: Pitch water balloons to batters. A hit is a burst balloon. Bases can be anything from kiddie pools to buckets of ice water or sprinklers.
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Water Balloon Piñata: Hang water balloons from tree branches or your playhouse monkey bars and take turns taking swipes at them.
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Noodle Waterfall: Cut holes in a pool noodle and hang it from a clothesline, then run the hose through it to create a waterfall.
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Sponge Relay Race: You'll need two teams, two large sponges, and four buckets. Each team has one bucket full of water, one empty bucket and one sponge. Place buckets 50-100 feet across from each other and teams relay, soaking their sponge with water and wringing it out into the empty bucket. Team with the most water in their previously empty bucket wins!
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Water Obstacle Course: Create a wet and watery obstacle course with hoses, sprinklers, buckets, kiddie pools, slip 'n' slides, and anything else you can think of.
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Sprinkler Tug-o-War: Turn on a sprinkler and place teams on either end of a rope with the sprinkler in the middle. The team to pull the other across the sprinkler wins. (In this case, it pays to lose!)
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Water Bottle Waterfall: Have participants choose a number between 1 and 10. An adult with a knife or sharp tool pokes the chosen amount of holes a the water bottle and the players must try to drink as much water as they can. The person who ends up wearing the most water loses. (Or wins.)
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Jumping Jack Splash: Two people turn a jump rope while someone jumps in the middle holding two full plastic cups of water. The jumper tries to keep from spilling the water for one full minute. Anything left in the cups at the end of the time can be splashed on the rope holders.
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Water Balloon Launch: Two teams use beach towels to launch water balloons to bomb the other team. Start with a balloon in a slack towel with two people on either side. Pulling the towel taught launches the balloon!
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Water Limbo: Spray a strong stream of water from the hose to create a limbo bar, then have player see how low they can go.
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Musical Sprinklers: Blast some music and dance in the sprinklers. When the music goes off, everyone must freeze. Anybody who moves is out.
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Mini Lazy River: Go through the kitchen drawers, junk drawers and toy box to find objects to make a makeshift river, running water through a hose. Test the river's flow with a ping pong.
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Frozen Footsies: Fill a kiddie pool with water and give each participant a large bowl. Dump a large bag of ice cubes into the pool. Players must transfer as many ice cubes to their own bowls as they can using only their feet.
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Bullseye Splash: Use sidewalk chalk to draw a large bullseye on the driveway with surrounding rings. Assign points to the various rings, the highest points in the middle of the bullseye. Players toss a wet sponge or water balloon trying to hit the bullseye. Player with the most points wins.
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Squirt Gun Tag: Like traditional tag, the "it" person has a squirt gun and tags others with water. The new "it" person takes the squirt gun.
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Ice Cube Painting: Color water with food dye and freeze it in ice cube trays, using multiple colors. Take an old sheet outside and let kids paint a mural using the cool ice cubes.
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Ice Blocking: Like summer sledding, all you need is a grassy hill and a block of ice. Sit on top and fly down the hill. (Not safe for small kids. Helmets recommended.)
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Dribble, Dribble, Drench: The water version of "Duck, Duck, Goose." Players sit in a circle and the "it" person walks around behind players and dribbles water on the head/back of each player, then "drenches" a select player who then chases them, trying to tag before their place is taken.
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Squirt Bottle Wars: Squirt bottles make even better tools than squirt guns with more water and easier control. Outfit players with full bottles of cool water and it's every man for himself.
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Slip 'n' Slide: All you need is a large strip of strong plastic and a hose and you're in business.
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Sprinkler Jumping: If you've got a trampoline in the backyard, place the sprinkler under and enjoy jumping in the water. It feels like rain.
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Kiddie Car Wash: Get out the bikes, wagons, tricycles and have a good, old-fashioned car wash with buckets, hoses, sponges.
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Ball Blast: Place various balls on the ground inside a hula hoop. Players must use the hose to try to spray all the balls outside the circle of the hoop.
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Ice Prizes: Freeze waterproof toys or coins inside ice cubes or blocks of ice. Give each player an ice cube and see who gets to their prize first.
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Water Fight: No rules, no structure, just grab the nearest hose and try to defend yourself!
