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Cool Summer Games

Summer gets pretty hot in Florida. But that doesn’t mean kids have to wait until October to play outside again. There are plenty of cool outdoor games that will give the T.V. and videos games a break. So round up the friends and give one of these a try:

WET SWEATS RELAY

Divide up into teams and players should have clothes on that they can get wet in. Each team should have one sweatshirt and one bucket full of cold water. Place buckets at the start of the line. The first person on each team is to dunk the sweatshirt into the bucket, put on the sweatshirt, run down the field and back and take off sweatshirt. The next player on that team will do the same. You can allow them to begin taking off the sweatshirt while they are running back to the next player. For added fun why not make it a whole sweat outfit with large sweatpants and sweat shirt (be careful the pants aren’t long enough to trip them). Remember, the clothes have to be re-dunked before the next player puts on the sweats.

FILL THE BOTTLE

Set teams with even number of participants. On each team, one person lays on ground while holding a 20-oz plastic pop bottle on their forehead. Teammates will run to bucket to fill up a 4-oz cup and then run back to their reclined teammate. They then attempt to pour it into teammates pop bottle while standing overhead. Then the next teammate will do the same until 20-oz bottle is filled. Once the 20-oz bottle is filled, the bottle persons run to the finish line without spilling.

OVER AND UNDER

Divide the group into two teams. Have them form a single file line, one behind the other. At the head of each line put a bucket of water. At the end of the line put a pitcher with a line drawn on it. Give a sponge to the person at the head of the line where the water bucket is. That person has to dip the sponge in the water to soak in as much water as they can. They have to then pass the soaking wet sponge over their head to the person behind who then passes the sponge to the person behind them through their legs. The sponge makes its way back over the head of one person and between the legs of the next till it gets to the person standing next to the pitcher. That person must squeeze whatever water is left into the pitcher and run the sponge back up to the head of the line. When this occurs, everybody moves back one position and the person who was at the back of the line now is at the head of the line. Continue process till the pitcher is filled to line.

TOWEL BALLOON THROW

You will need a minimum of four people to play this game. Two kids grab the ends of the towels and the other team does the same. Put a water-filled balloon in the middle of the towel for both teams. The teams then have to throw the balloons while still holding the towel and then catch it with the towel. The first team to drop the balloon and burst it loses.

BALLOON SQUAT

This is a relay race that needs 2 teams with an equal amount of players. You also need enough water balloons so that each player has one (and a few extra for mistakes). Make start and finish lines about 20 feet apart. Place the water balloons in two piles at the starting line. When you call out "go", the first person on each team picks up their balloon and runs to the finish line. There, they must sit on their balloon and pop it and then run back to the start line. Then the next player grabs their balloon and does the same thing. If a player drops his balloon, or pops it on the way, he must go back to the start line and take a new balloon and start again (this is where you’ll need the extra balloons). The first team to finish popping all their balloons is the winning team.

BUDDY BALLOON POP

This game requires teams of 2. Each team will have 10 to 20 water balloons in a bucket that they’ll need to pop. The balloons must be popped using both kids working together but they may not use their hands or feet. Kids can pop the balloons by putting it between their backs, heads, shoulders, etc. The first team to pop all their balloons wins.

ICE CUBE RACE

Each person receives a bowl filled with 10 to 20 ice cubes and an empty bowl. The object of the game is to move all the cubes from one bowl to the other using only your bare feet. The first person to transfer all their cubes to the empty bowl wins.

SHARKS AND MINNOWS

This swimming pool game is fun for a large group of kids to play. One person is chosen to be the "shark" and starts in the middle of the pool. All the other players are "minnows" and start out of the water on one end of the pool. The shark calls out "Minnows", and the minnows jump into the water and try to swim to the other side without being eaten (tagged) by the shark before they get out of the water. If they are tagged, they become sharks and stay in the water. The sharks call out "Minnows", and the game is played again until there is only one minnow left. This minnow is the winner and starts as the shark in the next game.

With this much fun to be had, kids will look forward to sweating just to have a chance to cool off! Now get out the sunscreen and swimsuits and head for the backyard.

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