Water Activities for Grandchildren

We’re off to Bear Lake for our annual family reunion. The lake sits on the Utah/Idaho border.

Lake = water.

Weather forecast = rain.

Rain = more water.

Saturday’s temperature is supposed to be 77 degrees.  That’s not quite warm enough for me to get into the water.  But, I can play at the lake’s edge with the grandchildren which is fine with me.

Because I’ll be gone, I’m re-posting some water activities that I shared last summer.  I hope you have fun doing them with your grandchildren.  (And, I hope the weather is warmer where you are so that you will enjoy getting wet!)

Flotsam and Jetsam

We all know that flotsam and jetsam refers to stuff floating in water.  Right?  Good.  So, the idea behind this activity is to get a Ping-Pong ball to float in a plastic cup.

Divide your grandchildren into pairs.  Give one grandchild an empty plastic cup with a Ping-Pong ball inside.  She is now known as the “Great Cup Holder.”  Give the other grandchild a spray bottle filled with water.  This grandchild is the “Sharp Shootin’ Squirter.” Have them stand six feet apart.

On ‘go,’ the Sharp Shootin’ Squirters try to squirt enough water into their partner’s cup so that the Ping-Pong ball floats.  The first team to get their ball to float is the winner.  Then, switch so that the Great Cup Holder becomes the Sharp Shootin’ Squirter and the sprayer turns into the cup holder.  Again, see which team can be the first to get their Ping-Pong ball to float.

There’s only one rule:  if the team members get closer than six feet, they have to dump out the water in their cup and start over.  (You might want to have a large bucket for easy refilling of the sprayers.)

You might want to have a squirt bottle for every grandchild.  Before the activity, they can draw designs on the bottles using markers.  Then, they can take the squirt bottle home with them — or keep them at grandma’s house for their next visit.

Gentle Jumping

Drag out your long jump rope and paper cups for this activity.  Your grandchildren will take turns turning the rope for the other jumpers.  Each grandchild is given a cup full of water.  The object is for each one to run in, jump six times, and run out without spilling water from her cup.  The one with the most water left in her cup is the winner.

Soggy Jogging

Divide your grandchildren into two teams.  Give each team an old pair of loose fitting sweat pants and a bucket of water.  Place a lawn chair for each team about 15-20 feet away from the starting line.

On ‘go,’ the first person dunks the sweat pants in the bucket of water and puts them on.  She runs down to the lawn chair and once around it and back to her team.  She takes off the sweatpants and gives them to the next person in line.

The next person dunks the sweatpants in the water, puts them on, runs down and around the chair and back.  The winning team is the one who finishes first.

Water Ball

This game is easier to do with just 2 grandchildren — or you and one grandchild.

You’ll need several water balloons, a plastic bat, and a bucket full of water.  Decide who is the pitcher and who is the batter.

The batter stands by the bucket of water.  The pitcher stands several feet away with four water balloons.  The pitcher tries to toss a water balloon into the bucket of water.  The batter ‘defends’ the bucket by hitting and breaking the water balloon so it doesn’t land in the bucket.  The pitcher scores one point for every balloon that successfully lands in the bucket.

Switch positions.  The new pitcher (who has four water balloons) tries to throw the balloons into the bucket while the new batter tries to hit the balloons so they don’t land in the bucket.  Continue playing until you run out of water balloons or interest wanes.