With summer right around the corner, hot summer days call for clever ideas that can keep you and the kids cool . Here are a few ideas to help make a splash this season with a bucketful of water games, frozen treats, and other activities to help beat the heat.
Bottle Blaster
With just a couple of basic parts from the hardware store, you can transform a 2-liter bottle into a fountain that produces a super-misty spray.
Use a pushpin to poke eight holes in one side of a 2-liter plastic bottle. Widen each hole with a bamboo skewer. You’ll need a 3/4-inch female by 3/4 -inch female swivel hose adapter, which threads onto the bottle and onto the hose, a part found in the plumbing section of a hardware store. While you’re there, pick up some rubber hose washers and insert one in the bottle side of the adapter to minimize leaks. Carefully screw the adapter onto the bottle and tighten (the threads may not match perfectly). Attach the hose and turn on the water. As a safety precaution, periodically check all connections for tightness so that the bottle doesn’t come loose from the hose and hurt someone.
Spray Day… Their Cups Runneth Over!
Players are sure to get soaked with this spray bottle challenge that’s brimming with fun. Divide the group into teams of two. Give one player on each team a squirt bottle filled with water and the other player a plastic cup and Ping-Pong ball, and have them stand six feet apart. At “Go” the player with the bottle tries to squirt enough water into their teammate’s cup to float out the ball. Set up a water bucket nearby for refills during play.
Fast and the Frozen Tee Contest
The chill factor in this fast-paced race makes it much cooler than your average dress-up game. This one is sure to cool the kids off. Before the contest, prepare a T-shirt for each participant by soaking it in water, wring it out, and fold it. Place waxed paper between each one, stack the folded shirts on a baking sheet then freeze them. When they’re stiff, hand them out to the participants. The first one to get into their frozen tee wins.
Ice Lei
These are fun to hand out at pool parties or just for lounging in the summer heat. The frozen cubes or shapes on this necklace do double duty as a personal cool-down device. To make one, tie a knot at the end of a 3-foot length of lanyard. Decide how many ice cube shapes you’d like, and then thread the same number of beads or pieces of a straw onto the lanyard, adding a few extra for decoration. Lay the lanyard on top of an ice tray and place a bead or straw piece into each well. Tape the lanyard to the rim of the tray, fill the wells with water, and freeze. When the cubes are frozen, pop them out and tie on the necklace.
Ready Steady Jump Rope Game
This simple spin on jumping rope turns it into a get-wet game. Provide each player with a full cup of water. One at a time, each player must jump rope for ten turns while holding their cup. The player with the most water left after 10 jumps wins.
Sponge Darts
This game is pretty simple, A bucket of water, a couple of wet sponges and a box of chalk are all you need to turn your driveway or side walk into a bull’s-eye target game. For this game draw a bulls-eye and assign a point value to each circle of the target. The kids stand on the starting line (which can be a line or shapes) and toss their sponge at the target. You put the kids on teams and let each person on the team toss a sponge. Then, the kids work together to add up their points. You could use any number of points to differentiate this for the age of your child. If you use shapes you can turn the game around and have the kids aim their sponges for different shapes.
Freeze Pop Light Sabers
Feel the force of with this ice-cold refreshment and keep hands unfrozen. Here’s a neat spin on the coozie. For each, cut a 3 by 4 inch rectangle from gray felt. Fold it over a freeze pop and use fabric glue to seal the side and bottom edges. Clamp the fabric closed with binder clips or clothespins, if needed. Slip the felt off the pop. Glue on the felt stripes and dots. When the glue is dry and your pop is frozen, you’re ready to battle the heat! 
