12 Water play ideas for kids this Summer

Kids love water play and it’s a great way to play and keep them cool this Summer.

Here are some great ways to get your kids involved in water play:

Sprinkler: My kids love running through the sprinkler and you can give your grass a water at the same time. Move it around the garden to spread out the watering.
Brushes and buckets: Give the kids paint brushes and water and get the kids to paint the deck, windows or the fences.
Paddling pool: Set up a paddling pool and the kids will be entertained splashing and ‘swimming’ and keeping cool. You can even sit with your feet in it to keep cool.
Washing and bathing: We have an old baby bath that we fill up with water and the kids do ‘washing up’ or washing of their dolls/toys.
Pouring: Give the kids different size containers, funnels, bottles, colenders to pour the water.
Water bombs: Water bombs can be fun and don’t need to just be thrown at each other. Try a game where you have play catch and NOT burst the balloon. Nowadays you can buy water balloons that fill many at once and even tie themselves!
Watering: Kids always seem to get wet when they are helping with the watering so get them to help on hot days and this will cool them down.
Slippery slide: Buy or make your own (from heavy duty garbage bags) slippery slide. The kids will have a ball sliding away.
Pinata: Fill balloons with water and hang them up in a tree for the kids to hit and get soaked when the pinata pops.
Excavation: Freeze small plastic toys in ice and the kids can chip away the ice to discover the toys.
Cooking: Set up a water kitchen for the kids to create and serve you ‘yummy’ water, leaf and grass concoctions.
Water world: Set up a container with rocks, boats and sea animals for the kids to play with.

Make sure you supervise with all water play.

Do your kids love water play, any play ideas to share? Please SHARE in the comments below.

Image courtesy of Shutterstock.com

We may get commissions for purchases made using links in this post. Learn more.

17 Comments

- - meedee said
  - 27 Oct 2021
    11:48 am
We are very aware of our water usage so anything that doesnt involve running water would be the way i would go.

- - june11 said
  - 28 Mar 2016
    3:50 pm
If you don’t have an old baby bath you can buy tubs at some of the Discount shops – if they have wheels it won’t matter on the lawn with water in it. When the kids outgrow it you can use it for storage —get a coloured one and you can hide small size presents in it. Often they are as cheap with the lids as without.
If you use tubs for that you can buy black ones if they are cheaper and put colour on them somewhere so you know what ones are for each person.
Works wonders here.

- - mom103920 said
  - 02 Mar 2016
    10:51 pm
We’ve tried all these except the piñata. There’s lots of fun to be had. We also wash the car, wash the dog, have sponge fights (sponges and buckets of water), spray bottles, and drawing on the concrete with ice cubes.

- - jenniw said
  - 02 Mar 2016
    8:35 am
These ideas are great for adults and children (well some anyway!). My kids love putting the sprinkler under the trampoline. Maybe not the safest thing to do (but they are teens) and I used to love doing it too.

- - Lizbef said
  - 18 Feb 2016
    3:50 pm
Love the piñata idea! Fun for the kids to play and fun for the adults to watch

- - shilto02 said
  - 15 Feb 2016
    1:54 pm
Perfect for my little ones. They love any form of water play and its great to get the whole family outside having fun together.

- - ella12 said
  - 08 Feb 2016
    4:38 pm
My little one loves the paddling pool.

- - june11 said
  - 06 Feb 2016
    2:50 pm
Lucky there is not strict water restrictions this Summer otherwise we wouldn’t be allowed to use sprinklers. Possibly only allowed to use drip systems if we have a severe drought – on certain days between set hours. Our kids love the soaker hose as they can run along with the water coming up under them, jump sideways over it. “free shower” in places that have warm/hot climate

- - serotonin said
  - 04 Feb 2016
    5:47 pm
My kids love the sprinkler and the tap, filling up buckets and plastic tubs and having a blast. Love the pinata idea!

- - rovermum said
  - 04 Feb 2016
    9:02 am
We have water guns/squirters too. Many of them. Everyone loves them, even the dog.

- - mom101628 said
  - 03 Feb 2016
    11:28 pm
Brings back memories of my childhood especially when water wasn’t scarce.

- - mum4107 said
  - 03 Feb 2016
    6:01 am
Miss 3 loves water play. The slightest bit of water and she is in it

- - rachelvk said
  - 02 Feb 2016
    9:31 pm
Nothing screams Aussie summer more than running around under a sprinkler!

- - mom165081 said
  - 02 Feb 2016
    2:51 pm
Water balloons are our favourite – especially trying to throw and catch without them bursting – hilarious as they often burst when dad gets tricky with his catching.

- - mom90758 said
  - 02 Feb 2016
    2:08 pm
I love the idea of the pinata! Hopefully self-made, otherwise it could become quite expensive!

- - mom19782016 said
  - 02 Feb 2016
    1:08 pm
Fabulous ideas now that the weather has turned a bit warmer again!

- - aprilb1 said
  - 02 Feb 2016
    12:45 pm
We put the water sprinkler/ mister around the net of the trampoline. The kids love bouncing and playing in the water