What You'll Need

• Water balloons (at least 2 per player, per game—biodegradable balloons are a great choice)
• Large bucket or dishpan

Get Ready… Get Set…

1. Fill the balloons with water, tie them off, and carefully put them into a bucket or dishpan.

2. Define "out of bounds" and a "safety" spot for your play space. To keep things fair, all players agree to stay in-bounds throughout the game. "Safety" is a stationary object or marked-off zone in the play space that provides a central place to rest or plot your next move. When someone's touching safety, they can't be tagged.

3. Place your bucket of filled water balloons at the far end of your play space.

4. Gather everyone at safety and you're ready to begin!

Play!

1. The youngest player is "It" and yells, "Go!" to start the game. This first "It" is safe until the very end of the game.

2. On "Go!" everyone scatters from safety. "It" runs to the bucket and grabs 2 water balloons.

3. "It" chases the other players and tries to tag one person by tossing the water balloons.

4. When a water balloon hits another player and bursts, that player becomes "It" and must run to grab 2 new balloons. (If both tosses are misses, "It" must run and grab 2 more to try again.) Once you've been "It," you're safe until the end of the game.

5. The chase continues until you're down to "It" and the only remaining safe player who hasn't been tagged: the very first "It" who started it all. Once the two "Its" have had their showdown, it's a free-for-all! All the remaining water balloons are up for grabs, and no one is safe from getting soaked.

After everyone's had a chance to rest and dry off, set a timer for two minutes and challenge players to pick up all of the broken balloon pieces before time's up.