17 Water Games for the Whole Family if You Don’t Have a Pool

You don’t need a pool to have fun in the water. Here is a great list of water games for the whole family.

Summer Water Games

There are many reasons that you might not have a pool at your home: money, safety, up keep, etc… But that doesn’t mean you can’t cool off from the sun with some water.

There are so many fun water games to play. These are also great games for a kid’s party and/or family reunion. We had a water day at our last family reunion, and it was a blast. They were so simple, but everyone got involved, even the grown ups had a blast. I would highly recommend setting up a water day this Summer, and I’m going to give you all the activities you can do.

If you need even more activity ideas, check out my Ultimate Summer Activity Binder for kids.

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The Obvious Water Games

We all know the obvious water games that we probably played in growing up. I have to add these to the list or it wouldn’t be a complete list of water fun.

Sprinklers

Who didn’t play in a sprinkler as a child? They’ve come so far with the type of sprinklers they have. The kids could have a full day of fun. Add a little twist on the sprinkler and set up three around the yard, or put a tarp under the sprinkler to make it super slippery.

Slip n Slide

Buy an awesome slip n slide, or make your own by setting up a tarp on a hill in your backyard. (We always tried to do this as kids, but my dad was worried about his lawn, so don’t worry too much about your lawn).

Water Gun fight

Create a water gun fight, make it even more interesting by setting up a tournament bracket. What!?

Water Slide

This is a more expensive option, but would totally be worth it to keep it around for several years. Buy a blow up slide. My sister has this one, and they love it. We set it up at our family reunion and it entertained the kids for hours! If you take good care of it, you can use it year after year. You can set it up everyday of the Summer if you wanted to. I just keeps on giving. We also added bubbles to the fun, and the kids LOVED it! These would also be great for parties.

Summer Water Games for the Whole Family

Let’s talk about some activities that aren’t as obvious, but just as fun. They require a little bit of prep work, but honestly, I bought a few supplies and gathered a few from my house last minute, and we had a blast!

Water Balloon Activities

A lot of these activities require water balloons, and I HIGHLY recommend getting the kind that you can fill up like 100 at a time so you’re not at the faucet all day. They fill up and then instantly tie, all you need is a hose. You can fill up like 500 balloons in a few minutes.

Volleyball

Play “volleyball” with water balloons and a couple of towels. You can have as many as you want on a team. Have 2-3 team members on a sheet or towel and toss a water balloon over a net, or just a line on the ground to the other team. We actually did this over the driveway so the cars were our “net”. It was a lot of fun.

Relay Race

Do a fun relay race with a big spoon and a water balloon. This is a lot like the egg relay race, but with a water balloon. Line up into your teams. Pick a spot about 50 meters away as the turn around point. Place a water balloon on a big spoon for each team. When you say go, each team member has to run the balloon on the spoon to the turn around point and back and give it to the next team member. The first team to finish wins. You can create rules like, if you drop the balloon you have to start your turn over, but house rules.

Balloon Toss

Okay, maybe this is more of an obvious one, but takes some prep work. Pick a partner and start with your feet touching. Toss the balloon back and forth taking a step back after every throw. See how far you can go without popping your balloon.

Balloon Roll

This is a good one for little kids. They each start with a balloon on the starting line. Pick a spot about 3 feet away to be the finish line. (or further depending on their age). Have them roll their balloon toward the finish line without popping it. If they pop it, they just get another one and try again. The first person to cross the finish line with their balloon intact, wins. This is best played on a hard surface, not the grass.

Water Balloon Piñata

Fill a bunch of water balloons and then tie them to a string or rope. Swing at them like a piñata with a plastic bat or stick.

Colander Catch

Fill up a bunch of balloons. Then have some place a colander (or strainer) on top of their head. Toss the balloons at them trying to land it in the colander. You are bound to get wet!

Other Water Games

Sponge Relay

This one will get you WET so be prepared. You need 4 buckets and 2 big sponges (like the ones you clean your car with). Spilt up into two teams. Sit on the ground in 2 lines in a row everyone sitting behind each other. Like a train. Put one bucket in the front of the line and the other bucket in the back of the line. Fill the bucket at the front of the line with water (however much you want). Make sure you fill up the front buckets the same as each other. Mark a fill line on the bucket in the back, which is empty.

When you say go, the person at the front of the line has to dump the sponge into the bucket of water and pass it over their head to the person behind them. Then that person gives it to the person behind them by passing it over their head and so forth. The last person squeezes the sponge into the empty bucket and then they pass the sponge back to the beginning. The goal is to try and get the bucket in the back filled up to the fill line before the other team. The first one to do it wins!

Water Baseball

Spruce up your baseball game by using little baby pools as your bases. Use a splash water ball as your baseball, and a plastic bat. Also you could have a sprinkler going while you play. Use a slip n slide for home plate. This is really fun in a big group!

Wash your car

Put on your bathing suits and go clean the car. It is a lot of fun, plus you get a clean car!

Feet Bucket challenge

This looks like a fun activity. All you need is a regular sized bucket of water. Have everyone lay on their backs in a circle and put their feet up in the air. You want to lay close enough to each other so that your feet are all touching in the middle. Then, put the bucket of water on top of everyone’s feet. The goal is to keep the bucket upright while everyone takes a turn taking off their shoes and socks.

Duck Duck Splash

Play duck duck goose, but use a cup of water to pick the goose.

Water Table

Buy a water table because kids LOVE them, or make your own little sensory water table by filling up a tub with water and adding cups, spoons, and other fun toys that can get wet.

I hope these water games help make your Summer more cool and wet!

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