Squirt Guns and Water Balloons

This is a great party for warm days and provides a lot of entertainment for school aged kids.

Set Up: You will obviously need a collection of squirt guns, balloons and a way to fill them with water. You should set up targets at one end of the yard. Some can be made of colored construction paper that will change color as soon as they get wet so kids can tell if they hit the target. Others can be made of tissue paper stretched over the open end of a box, with the object being to squirt enough water on it to break through the paper. Targets for the water balloons can be buckets or barrels, or holes in containers to aim the balloons at. You should also put marks of some kind at different distances away from the target to offer more challenges. 

Invitations: Let kids know that they will be getting wet so they can dress appropriately. You might want to ask them to bring a towel, to cut down on your laundry afterward. 

Arrival: Inform guest’s right from the beginning that kids are not to squirt or throw balloons at one another. Show them the targets and let them fill some balloons, with the stipulation that no one will start throwing until everyone arrives.

Main Event: Have everyone try to hit the targets from different distances away. You can keep score if you want, or just encourage them to have fun. When they have all thrown and squirted at each target, organize some group games. Here you will need to make it clear that kids should only participate if they don’t mind getting wet. There may be some who choose to watch. You could have them play dodge ball or volleyball using water balloons. Or play a version of tag where “it” has a stockpile of balloons to throw at the others to tag them. They would also like to play catch with the balloons while taking a step backward after each throw. Kids can see how far apart they can get without breaking their balloon. 

Refreshments: Blue Jell-O is cool and watery, or any summertime treat would be great.