FARTHEST SPLASH
Be sure you have a deep pool.  Gather into two teams with equal amount of players.  Each team then selects one person. The team players hold this one player up by their hands and feet.  The adult person then does the counting.  On a count down of "1 - 2 - 3" the team players then throw the person into the pool.  Which ever team throws the person the farthest gets a point.   This game is a lot of fun, but SAFETY must be always considered!

WATER LIMBO
Get a garden hose and turn it on full.  Put your thumb over the left or right half of the opening to create one jet of water.  Now you limbo (walk under the stream of water) under the water stream.  Each time the group walks under the water you lower it.  The losers are obvious because they get soaked.

WATER VAULTING
Making a water jet as mentioned above start low with everyone forming a line and one by one jumping over the water jet.  Then raise it higher each time as the group clears the jet.  The winner is the one who lasts the longest without getting wet.

WATER GUN WAR GAME
Gather several kids wading pools and place about 15 - 20 feet away from each other.  You put water in kids wading pools with different color food coloring in each pool.  Children are put in different groups, red group, blue group etc.   Give each child a water gun.  They now can have a water war fights and they know when they have been hit because the colored water marks where they get hit.   Different parts of the body hit gives the other team points. Example: leg - 1 point, arm - 2 points etc. Their pool is their safety base.

LOOKING FOR GOLD
Take coins or round souvenirs which you can see if you look down into a swimming pool.  Stand facing away from the pool then throw the objects over your shoulder into the pool in different areas.  After you have thrown all the coins or souvenirs turn around and jump into the pool and see how long it takes you to find them.   It's like looking for gold.

WATERMELON WAR
This is a fun game played with floating watermelons in the swimming pool.   Players form two teams. One or more watermelons are then placed into the middle of the pool.  The object is to get the watermelon to the opposite side of the pool without lifting them out of the water.  The melons can only be pushed.

BALLOON TOSS
Fill up water balloons.  Have one balloon for every two persons.   Form into teams and form two lines facing each other about 10 feet apart.   Partners will throw water balloons to each other to catch.  If they drop the balloon they must exit the game.  After each toss step back by one foot. Winners are the remaining partners.

SPONGE PASS
Similar to above, except you use sponges.

SPONGE RELAY
Two teams face a relay race or obstacle course together.  Balance a wet sponge on your head and run to and back from a goal. If you drop the sponge you must return to the front of your line and start over again.

DODGE THE SPONGE
Instead of using a dodge ball use a large sponge.  Have players in a circle with one person being in the middle. The object is to throw the wet sponge at the person.  If he/she gets hit then the person who threw the sponge can name someone outside the circle to go to the middle. The person who was hit then gets to throw the first sponge!

WATER BALLOON FIGHT
Fill up water balloons and have a fun fight. Choose safety zones.   Choose to either have balloons thrown or if they need to be held and popped by a person's hands (a little harder this way).

FILL THE CUP RELAY
This is a fun relay race.  Give each team a spoon.  They must race and fill a cup up with water.  The first team to do so wins!

COLD TOES ICE CUBE RELAY
Using a child's wading pool throw some large ice cubes in and have a relay with teams as to who can take the most ice cubes out using only their feet in a designated time period.

FASHION SHOW
Using only wet cloth towels or wet paper towels (some kids use toilet paper) have your own crazy fashion show!   Awards for creativity, color, and most humourous!  Be sure to clean up your mess!

SLIP AND SLIDE
Get a long sheet of thick plastic.  Lay the plastic on a flat grass lawn.  Have adults or kids each hold down the edges every few feet for safety.   With a garden hose with the water continuously running spray the plastic and then have kids "one-by-one" slide: on their feet, on their stomachs, etc.

BLIND MAN'S BACON
What you'll need:  2 blindfolds, 2 water pistols.
This is a variation of the 'Steal The Bacon' game which plays best in a circle shape with each team forming half a circle.  The two teams are of equal size so that there is a player on each team with the same number.  When a number is called, the corresponding player for each team puts on a blindfold.  After hearing the signal, the two blindfolded players move toward the center where a squirt gun is located.  The object is to reach the squirt gun and squirt the other guy before he came make it back behind the protection of his team.  Teams are allowed to shout instructions to the blindfolded players.

DAMPENERS
What you'll need: Two wet sponges or rags.
Two players sit about 2 feet apart on chairs in the centre of the area.  They are blindfolded, face each other and each hold a wet sponge. The rest of the players must creep up, as directed by a Leader and pass between the seated Cubs.  The seated Cubs can say 'freeze' at any time (within reason) and dab down with the sponge between the chairs.  If hit places are changed.  This can also be played outdoors on a fine day, using larger quantities of water, or water pistols.

GLADIATORS
What you'll need: 2 solid foam rafts 6'x 3'x 5" thick, helmets (we use goalie type), 2 jousting hitters (we use three foam pool noodles taped together with duct tape to make one solid foam hitter).
Contestants (gladiators) put on helmets and PFD lifejackets (optional). Board their foam rafts.  The referee instructs them on how the game is played. Two rules 1) If a player loses his hitter during play or 2) if a player falls from the standing position on to the mat; then play is temporarily stopped until they are up and ready to fight again.   The referee holds the floating rafts together and calls "Go or Stop" as is needed.  The winner successfully knocks his opponent into the water.  Players must stay on their own raft during the contest.  Helmets are necessary to protect against ear injury while PFD's are to a degree protecting from mild bruising but more important stop players from hitting bottom in shallow water.

WATER BALLOON CATCH
What you'll need: Balista or catapult per team, water balloons, polythelyne sheet per team.
Using a large catapult three players launch water balloons toward the objective.  The objective is three other players holding a large polythelyne sheet or ground sheet, who will try and catch the water balloons.  The team with the most catches wins.

WATER BALLOON VOLLEY BALL
What you'll need: A volleyball net or a rope over which the balloons can be tossed, an endless supply of balloons a quarter filled with water.
Your net or rope is stretched between two poles or trees just above head height.  You have two teams and one balloon a quarter filled with water.  If you put too much water into the balloons then they tend to burst too easily.  The object of the game is to lob the balloon over the net and try and soak the opposing team.  There is a lot of strategy in this game on such things as catching the balloon without bursting it and ways of lobbing the balloon to make it difficult to catch.  When the balloon bursts on one side then a point is awarded to the other side, and a new balloon is brought into play.

WATER PISTOL FIGHT
What you'll need: A water pistol or a washing up liquid squeeze bottle per team, a flack jacket made from a double sheet of newspaper with a hole in the centre for the players head to go through per team, a supply of water.
This game should be played out of doors and could be a basis for a wide game.  The trouble with shooting type games, is knowing when someone has been hit. This is the object of the newspaper flack jackets.  Any hits on the jacket will be easily visible.   Any players with wet patches on their flack jackets, are not allowed to fire on an opponent and must return to their home base for a replacement flack jacket.  The team that has the most dry flack jackets at the end of the game are the winners.

TUG OF WAR
Try this game in the water.  A lot depends on the percent of the teams body above the later as this adds to the dead weight.

PYRAMID
Try to see who can build the tallest pyramid of people in the water

February 20, 2001