Bucket Blast!

The kids have been outside all day playing everything they can with the neighbor kids. Towards the end of the day they were starting to get restless and out of ideas. I brought out our Bucket Blast game and it hit the spot perfect! This game is great and with so many uses - 6 buckets, a bunch of bean bags, blindfolds and some cones. I only let them use the buckets and beanbags. They began by stealing bean bags from each other and the person with the most bean bags at the end won. This was enjoyable but the real fun began with water. What kid does not love water on a hot day?

They filled their buckets and strapped them on - then they run around and try to knock the water out of each others buckets - at the end of the timer the person with the most water wins. Everyone is wet and everyone is having fun. They played several rounds of this and then tried to experiment with a way to fairly fill the buckets on each other. We have one hose and it seemed hard to make this work. They tried several versions and settled on one they liked but went back to dumping the buckets out and trying to keep the water in. A great time was had by everyone. Today the ages playing ranged from 6 to 13 and they played peaceably and enjoyably together. Though I must say the 13 year old is a very kind and gentle spirited 13 year old girl - results might be different with a rowdy competitive 13 year old. I recommend the bucket game - they are also great in the winter for indoor gym or indoor house games. A variety of ideas come with it and there are plenty to make up on your own or find from others. Great for a variety of ages and genders and once you have a few kids it is contagious and fun.

After awhile today the buckets started to annoy them and the realization that what they were enjoying was the hose sunk in. They created some other game of water jail involving our play set fort, the pool and the hose. This has kept them entertained for about another half hour. Really just add a little creativity to water and you have the guaranteed recipe for success on a hot sunny day.

We have just a little baby pool - appropriate for Sirah but all the neighborhood kids manage to get in there. They put it at the bottom of our slide, they stand in it, they put the sprinkler over it, they do a variety of things to get wet and really seem to enjoy this little pool. I tell people we don't have a pool but to bring swim suits and towels to our house because it seems kids always get pretty wet here - just like they always get pretty muddy here in the spring. I see that as meaning they are having a great time and that makes me happy. What is a little water mess and some mud for some great childhood memories and happy kids?