Fun Ways to Beat the Heat

It's summer so we expect the heat but some days the temp is really up there. This got me thinking of all the fun things I've done with children to beat the heat. Here are a few of my favorites. Remember to reapply sunscreen often and encourage hydration!

Fill 'Er Up!

Ready to get wet? Then the children will enjoy this team game. You'll need two plastic cups about 6 oz size works well, two ping-pong balls and two hand held spray bottles filled with water. One teammate holds the cup while the other squirts water into it in order to raise the ping-pong ball up and out of the cup. Sometimes getting the ball out of the cup is a challenge so it can be modified to get water to the top of the cup. A refill bucket of water is available as needed for the squirters. Switch with your teammate and do it all again.

While this is meant to be a relay race it isn't necessary to race - - - it is perfect to just get wet. So you don't really need teams either just the desire to enjoy the activity.


Splash Volley Ball

Using a large sponge and a small kiddie pool enjoy a game that's cooling and fun! The kiddie pool is the net and the water loaded sponge is the ball. Because everyone can be around the perimeter of the pool you can play with any number of children. The goal is to keep the sponge going and keep the water splashing. Slipping into the pool from time to time will happen so I filled the pool with only a few inches of water. Because this can become very active make sure an adult is keeping an eye on the action.



Water Obstacle Course

We didn't have a large in ground or above ground pool in our backyard but we did have several kiddie pools. So we set them up around the yard. In each pool was a different activity - fill the bucket, scoop and poor, sponge toss, floating ducks. You can come up a with several options for different ages or different levels of difficulty. Children will enjoy the cool off along with the active play. Ask them to come up with different skills - they'll get a chance to show off their creativity.