Summer Fun with Balloons and Bubbles

37 ways to bust summer boredom - fun balloon and bubble activities

Banish Summertime Boredom with Balloons and Bubbles!

Summer is here and these activities will come in handy! We’ve put together a list of 37 of our favorite balloon and bubble activities. We know  you’ll find just the right one for a hot afternoon or for when you need to have an EASY planned activity ready. The best part about most of these activities is that they require only a few materials and they can be purchased on a tight budget. I have been busy planning scout and girls camp activities for the summer on a tight budget so these ideas will be super useful to me this summer. If you are home with the kids this summer pick one for each day of the month and then repeat your favorites throughout the rest of the summer!

Water Balloon Activities

37 ways to bust summer boredom with fun balloon and bubble activities

Water Balloon Pinata – You can fill the balloons up quite a bit since you will be using regular balloons and the plastic is a bit more thick. Loop rubber bands over the monkey bars, then tie the balloons to the rubber bands. Easy as that, and you’re ready to go! If you are struggling to pop the pinata, poke a hole with a push pin at the top and then swing again.

  • Materials Needed:
    • monkey bars or string to hang balloons from
    • regular balloons (Here’s a great deal on a pack of 100!)
    • rubber bands
    • bat or other stick to hit the balloons with

37 ways to bust summer boredom with fun balloon and bubble activities

Water Balloon Punching Bag – Have a little one (or big kid) that needs to work out some energy? This is a GREAT activity to do just that! Use a regular water balloon as a punching bag to get in a great workout! Loop rubber bands over the monkey bars, then tie the balloons to the rubber bands.

37 ways to bust summer boredom with fun balloon and bubble activities

Water Balloon Bowling – Use balloons as a bowling ball roll down the driveway and knock over empty water bottles or soup cans.

  • Materials Needed:
    • Regular balloons filled with water until it reaches a ball shape
    • Empty water bottles or cans

Water Balloon Slippery Fish – Place small balloons that have been filled with water in a sink, bathtub, or small pool. Add in dish soap. The goal of the activity is to try to catch the slippery fish!! **Warning: Please be sure to have adult supervision around the open water. Thanks for a fun idea MommyConnections!

  • Materials Needed:
    • Dish Soap
    • Water balloons filled with water
    • Indoor: use a sink or bathtub filled with a few inches of water
    • Outdoor: fill a small pool with an inch of water

37 ways to bust summer boredom with fun balloon and bubble activities

Water Balloon Hopscotch – This is a great sunny day activity for the kids to do. Keep them busy with sidewalk chalk designs and drawing out the hopscotch, then play the game with water balloons. Have the kids draw out a hopscotch on the driveway, making sure they draw it darkly so it will not erase on the first water balloon toss.

Water Balloon Ring Toss – Ring toss can keep kids big and small busy! Have the rings on the ground or hold them up for a bigger challenge for the bigger kids. Fill water balloons – easy as that! Want to fill a bunch of balloons at once?

  • Materials Needed:
    • Water balloons
    • Hula Hoops (I saw these at the dollar the last time that I was there!)

37 ways to bust summer boredom with fun balloon and bubble activities

Water Balloon Launcher – Make a simple balloon launcher using simple objects you may already have on hand. The kids will love this one. Follow the instructions listed in the image above.

Water Balloon Obstacle Course – Set up buckets with water balloons around the yard and have targets for the kids to hit.

  • Materials Needed: balloons, and objects for the obstacle course (cones, hula hoop, buckets)
  • Obstacle Course ideas:
    • Slide down the slide and throw a balloon in a hula hoop
    • Grab a balloon then do a somersault and throw the balloon at a cone
    • Balance a balloon on a top of a cone
    • Hop on three balloons and pop them
    • Toss two balloons into a bucket

Water Balloon Towel Toss – See how far you can step away from each other before you drop the balloon! Use a towel as your launcher/catcher…but don’t drop it!

Water Balloon Basketball – Shoot hoops with water balloons and count up the points for how many you get through the hoop.

37 Balloons and Bubbles Activities on a Budget {fabulesslyfrugal.com}

Water Balloon Fight – There’s nothing like a good ‘ol water balloon fight! Get the kids loaded up with water balloons and send them outside to have fun! Check this out for a great solution to filling up water balloons QUICK!

Water Balloon Splatter Painting – Fill the water balloons up with a watercolor paint mix then let the kids splatter the balloons on paper. *Make sure to do this outdoors because of the mess it will make!* 🙂

Water Balloon Treasures – Fill up the water balloons with small treasures and then have the kids throw the balloons at a wall or fence that will not be damaged. They will love finding the treasures inside of the balloons!

37 Balloons and Bubbles Activities on a Budget {fabulesslyfrugal.com}

Frozen Water Balloon Coin Hunt – Stick coins in a water balloon then fill with water and freeze until solid. Take them out of the freezer and let the kids dig away at the ice until they reach their coins…as a bonus you can count the coins and then the kids can keep the coins that they dug out.

  • Materials Needed:
    • Water Balloons
    • Coins
    • Small containers to hold the ice balloons while the kids are digging out the coins.
    • Butter knives, hammer, or other objects that the kids can use to dig away at the ice.

37 Balloons and Bubbles Activities on a Budget {fabulesslyfrugal.com}

Frozen Balloon Creations – Fill up a regular balloon with water and drop in some food coloring before tying it. Place in freezer and allow it to freeze all the way through. Once the water balloon is frozen solid take it out and have the kids examine the different creations and watch how it changes as it melts.

  • Materials Needed:

Water Balloon Tag – Use water balloons and play tag by throwing the balloons at people’s feet to tag them. As someone new is “it” they can run over to a designated area with a bucket of water balloons.

  • Materials Needed:
    • Water Balloons
    • Bucket or large bowl to hold balloons (I grabbed one for the dollar store so the kids wouldn’t damage mine.)

37 Balloons and Bubbles Activities on a Budget {fabulesslyfrugal.com}

Water Balloon Toss – See how far you can move apart from one another without dropping and breaking a water balloon. Throw in some math work by using a measuring tape and record your distances.

Water Balloon Targets – Test your aim by hitting a target with a water balloon. Use chalk to draw a target outline on the driveway or on a wooden fence and then add up points for the closer you get to the center of the target! (The water balloons will wash the chalk off of the fence. Spray down with a hose to get any remaining chalk off of the fence and driveway.)

Balloon Activities

37 Balloons and Bubbles Activities on a Budget {fabulesslyfrugal.com}

Balloon Painting – blow up small balloons or water balloon and dip the ends of the balloons in paint, then use that as a stamp to paint. Great for an afternoon when you need an indoor activity as the summer heats up!

Balloon Relays – If you have the neighbor kids over for the afternoon blow up some balloons and have them do relay races with the balloons.

Balloon Badminton – Tape a paper plate to a popsicle stick (decorate and color it if the kids would like to) then blow up a balloon and see how long you can keep the balloon up in the air before having it hit the ground. Thanks for a great idea Hands On As We Grow!

Balloon Tag – This is a fantastic activity for older kids. Blow up balloons, tie them, then tie to the end to a rubber band. Place the rubber band around the kids’ ankles and see who can last the longest with their balloon!

37 Balloons and Bubbles Activities on a Budget {fabulesslyfrugal.com}

Hot Potato with Balloons and Beans – Fill up a balloon with beans, blow it up the rest of the way, then tie it. Have the kids sit in a circle and play a game of hot potato but with the balloon instead. This is fun for little ones who are still learning passing skills.

Balloon Drums – Cut off the end of a balloon and cover the end of a soup can. Secure the balloon with a rubber band, and use plastic spoons as the drumstick.

Balloon Music Shakers – fill up a balloon with beans, blow it up about half way, the tie it. Shake the balloons to music and even use along with the balloon drums (mentioned above) to make a “Balloon Band”. 🙂 Have the kids practice to a piece of music then play the song for mom/dad/grandparents when they come home from work or over to visit.

37 Balloons and Bubbles Activities on a Budget {fabulesslyfrugal.com}

Balloons for sensory play – fill balloons with different sensory objects for free play. I found it difficult to fill up the balloon with different objects, so I tried using a funnel and it helped. 🙂

Balloon stress ball – fill a small balloon with flour and use it as a stress ball when the little ones need to calm down. This is great for road trips or for quiet play time.

Bubble Activities

37 Balloons and Bubbles Activities on a Budget {fabulesslyfrugal.com}

Bubble Painting – Bubble painting is a fun activity that one of the Fab Team Gals did with her family. This is great for painting for fun or making wrapping paper and more! Check out how to do this project here!

Bubble Race – Blow bubbles and then try and push them with a wind current from your arms or a paper fan and then do races to see who can go the farthest or longest before the bubbles pop.

37 Balloons and Bubbles Activities on a Budget {fabulesslyfrugal.com}

Bubble Catching – Catch bubbles with your hands and see how long they will last, or how many you can catch at one time! The trick to this is to dip your hands in the bubble solution or wear gloves to protect the bubble from popping. I did this with a preschool class and we spent 20 minutes just running around catching bubbles and seeing who could gather the most at once.

  • Materials Needed:
    • Bubbles
    • Gloves

37 Balloons and Bubbles Activities on a Budget {fabulesslyfrugal.com}

Bubble Wands – You don’t have to stick to just the bubble wands that come in the bubble container. Grab pipe cleaners, wiki sticks, lego tires, key rings, spaghetti strainers, and anything else you can think of. I challenged my kids to bring 5 things they thought would work to blow bubbles with and they were surprised with what did and didn’t work.

37 Balloons and Bubbles Activities on a Budget {fabulesslyfrugal.com}

Bubbles and straws – Blow a bubble, then dip a straw in the bubble solution and try to push the straw through the bubble without it popping. The kids will think you’re the coolest thing around when you show them this! 🙂

Hot and Cold Bubbles – Use hot water to make bubbles and ice water to make bubbles. Compare the difference between the cold and hot water and why the kids think they are different.

  • Bubble Solution Recipe:
    • 1 Cup of Water
    • 5 teaspoons dishwashing detergent
    • 2 teaspoons Glycerin (optional)

Bubbles to Stand in – This is one of the coolest activities that I have seen in a while and I cannot wait to try it out! I will update this with some pictures as soon as the weather warms back up, but until then, check it out here!

Bubble Hoops – Blow bubbles through hoops and see who can do the most in one minute.

37 Balloons and Bubbles Activities on a Budget {fabulesslyfrugal.com}

Recycling Bin Bubbles – Grab the plastics out of the recycling bin and wash them out for some bubble fun! This week I had a ketchup bottle, creamer, and a gatorade bottle that we used to try this. Use a utility knife *Please use caution* to cut off the end of the container, then dip the end of the container in a bubble solution and blow bubbles. This is a lot of fun to do with the older kids that think they’re just too big for bubbles….they’ll jump right in because it’s fun and different.

Bubbles with Buddies – My dog LOVES to catch bubbles…the kids could spend an hour just blowing bubbles for her to chase after and she would still ask for more. I found this Bacon Flavored bubble solution made especially for dogs and my dog things this is the best thing ever. 🙂 This is a great boredom buster for your kids and their furry friends!

If all else fails….just go with this idea! 🙂

37 Balloons and Bubbles Activities on a Budget {fabulesslyfrugal.com}

Image credit: BuzzFeedLife

37 Balloons and Bubbles Activities on a Budget {fabulesslyfrugal.com}

Water Sports Water Balloon – $7.99

  • Ships FREE with Prime!
  • Pack of 500
  • This is the best value I have found on water balloons. With these you’ll have enough for several of these games over the summer…but you might want to snag 2 while the price is low if you have kids that LOVE to have water balloon fights like mine! They’re already planning a surprise attack for Dad this weekend! 🙂

What other ideas and activities do you have for Balloons & Bubbles?
We’d love for you to share below!

37 ways to bust summer boredom with fun balloon and bubble activities

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