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Selection of 15 awesome fun water gun games that will keep the kids happy during summer. Perfect for use at birthday parties or simply on a hot summer’s day.
All these games are easy to play, cheap to coordinate and guaranteed to cause a belly full of laughs.
Stay cool this summer with this water gun play.
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Summer birthday parties can be hot but not everyone has a swimming pool. What’s the next best thing? Water play!
There are SO many water gun games that are perfect for kids of all ages to enjoy. So if the kids would like a water party but you don’t own a pool, this is easily achieved.
Of course these water gun games are also perfect to mix and match with pool party games, so you will never be short of ideas.
But you don’t need to be having a party to enjoy these water gun games. Use them any time during the summer to beat the heat!
15 Kid Approved Water Gun Games
1. Water Gun Fight
This game is of course an absolute classic and has no rules!
Simply hand out the water guns and let everyone shoot each other.
It’s simple, its easy and it is of course lots of fun.
2. Shoot The Beach Ball
Depending how many people you have, this can either be played in teams or as individuals.
Blow up the beach balls and hand everyone a water gun. The idea is to shoot the beach ball and move it across to the finish line.
The winner is the first to cross the finish line.
To play in teams, play the game as a relay.
3. Shoot The Ping Pong’s
Stand a number of empty glass bottles in lines and place ping pong balls on the top.
Players then have to shoot the ping pong balls off the top of the bottles.
Play can either continue for a certain period of time, or until the water in the gun has been emptied.
The winner is the player to shoot off the most balls.
4. Carnival Shooting
Have you seen those games at the carnival where cups are stacked into a pyramid shape and you have to throw balls at them?
Well this is a take on that carnival game, but instead of throwing balls, you are shooting water at the cups.
The aim of the game is to knock all the cups off the table before the water gun runs out of water.
5. Water Tag
This game is played the same way as normal “tag”, except someone is using a water gun.
The aim of the game is for the person with the water gun to shoot everyone else. Once hit, you have to freeze on the spot and other players can unfreeze you by crawling between the legs.
If you have a number of players, you may choose to have more than one person with a water gun.
6. Wash The Dots
Using Washing paint, place paint dots on the kids bodies. Each child is given a water gun and the aim of the game is to shoot all the dots off each other.
When all the dots are missing the child is out the game.
The winner is the child who has the most dots on their body when all the water in the guns are empty.
7. Capture The Flag
Every person playing this game will have a water gun. Players are then divided into two teams.
Each team will have a flag which they need to protect from the other team. The aim of the game is to capture the other teams flag.
To do this, players need to race towards the flag, however if they get hit by the water gun then they need to freeze. To be unfrozen, another player from their team needs to crawl between their legs.
The winning team is either the team to capture the other teams flag, either by freezing all their players or getting to the flag without being caught.
8. Bubble Shooting
This game is simple, but lots of fun. Grab some large bubble wands and blow bubbles into the air.
All players have a water gun and have to shoot the bubbles with water to make them pop.
9. Water Color Fight
Every player needs to wear a white t-shirt and have their own water gun.
The water guns are filled with water and also water colors.
The aim of the game is to shoot everyone and decorate their t-shirts.
It would be a good idea to also wear goggles for this game, to ensure that no coloring gets into the eyes.
10. Cup String Race
Put a hole into the middle of the base of a plastic cup and thread a long string through the hole.
The string then needs to be tied between two trees with the plastic cup at one end.
The aim of the game is to shoot the inside of the plastic cup to make it move along the string.
Depending on space, several strings could be set up to form a race. Otherwise each player could be timed to see how long it takes to move the cup from one end of the string to the other.
The player with the quickest time is the winner.
11. Boat Race
Fill a paddling pool with water and place boats at one end. Each child is given a water gun and a boat.
The aim of the game is to squirt the boats to move them to the other end of the pool.
The winner is the player that gets their boat to the other side first.
12. Build A Fortress
Divide the kids into teams and hand each team 40-50 plastic cups.
Let the kids design and build a fortress.
Once the fortress has been build, the kids use their water guns to shoot down the other teams fortress.
The team to destroy the other fortress first is the winner.
13. Frozen Treasure
Smaller kids will love this game.
The night before the party, grab some small toys like plastic dinosaurs, cars, dolls, balloons, small plastic party favors etc. Place them into tubs, fill with water and freeze.
Divide the kids into teams and place a block of ice on the ground in front of them. The kids have to shoot their water guns at the ice blocks to release the toys inside. The first team to release all the toys wins.
Ensure that there are enough small toys to share around the kids afterwards.
14. Wet The Hidden Creatures
This is another fun game that the young kids will enjoy.
Hide several soft toys or dinosaurs etc around the garden.
Tell the kids what they are hunting for and then let them loose. When they see the toy they need to spray it. The kids keep hunting until they find and spray all of the toys.
For my son’s Spiderman party, we hung spiders from the trees and the kids went around shooting all the spiders.
Simply mix up the toy to relate to the theme of the party.
15. Wash Away The Drawing
On the pavement create some drawings. The drawings could be colorful shapes, or rainbows.
Prepare lots of drawings and space them apart to allow all the kids to be involved.
The game is to simply let the kids use their water guns to wash away the chalk.
These water gun games are guaranteed to cause a lot of laughs and smiles at your next party. Not only will help keep the heat at bay, but they will ensure everyone remains entertained throughout the party.
But don’t limit yourself to just using these games at a party.
Any summers day that the kids are looking for something fun, whip out one or two of these games to keep them occupied.
Adding water to the summer fun ensures that everyone can enjoy themselves whilst staying cool.
What water gun games do you love to play? I’d love to hear your thoughts below!
Need some more ideas for party games? Check out the most awesome fun party games for kids of all ages. You will have a ton of inspiration to keep the kids entertained.
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