Make your Own Reusable Water Bombs
Special thanks to Scouts Aotearoa for sponsoring this activity.
Single-use water balloons may be fun to hurl at friends and family, but the clean-up afterwards (trying to pick up all those little bits of burst balloons) and the potential impact on our planet are far from fun.
These reusable, sponge water bombs are the perfect alternative.
What you need:
Sponges
We picked up a three-pack to make different colour water bombs.Scissors
A ruler
A marker pen
Sturdy rubber bands
What to do:
Use the ruler to measure the width of your sponge and use maths to divide that measurement by four.
For example, our sponge was 8cm wide, so we worked out that our sponge could be cut into four 2cm wide pieces.Using the ruler and a pen, mark where you will need to cut your sponge, in order to create four even pieces.
Using scissors, cut your sponge into four even pieces.
Lay the pieces on top of each other to create a star shape.
Tightly wrap a sturdy rubber band around the centre of your sponge pieces to hold them together.
Soak your sponge water bomb in a bowl or bucket of water and you’re ready to throw!
We chose to make our water bombs using just one sponge per bomb, but you could add more pieces of sponge to make bigger/thicker bombs and even combine colours to create rainbow bombs!
Water bomb game ideas…
You can make up all sorts of water bomb game rules, but here are our favourites…
Bucket toss game
Place one large bucket full of water and water bombs next to those playing. Next, line up a bucket for each competitor approximately one-meter distance away. The object of the game is to toss the water bombs into your bucket, without missing. Keep moving the buckets further away, until only one person is able to get their bombs into the bucket, without missing.Capture the flag
Each player has a “home base” which has a flag or other easily carried marker (e.g. a coloured block, teddy bear, etc). Each player is also assigned a colour. For the rest of the game, each player can only touch the water bombs that are their assigned colour.
The object of the game is to capture all the other player’s flags (or home base markers).
All players start from their home base, with as many water bombs as they can carry. If a player is hit by another player’s water bomb, they must immediately drop any water bombs or flags they are carrying and return to their home base. They may then immediately venture out again to re-claim their dropped bombs and flags.
If another player successfully takes your flag to their home base, you are “out” and must watch until one player has all the flags.Piggy in the middle
Designed for three or more players, one person is the “piggy” and stands in the middle of two or more players. The person in the middle must try to catch the water bomb as the other players try to toss it over the “piggy” to each other. When the person in the middle catches the water bomb, they swap places with the person they captured the water bomb from.Down you go!
Each time a player fails to catch a water bomb that is tossed to them, they are physically penalised. When you miss the first toss, you must balance on one leg. When you miss the second toss, you then need to kneel on one knee. When you miss the third toss, you must kneel on both knees. When you miss the fourth toss, you must sit on the floor. If you miss the fifth toss, you’re out!
Did you give it a go?
Send us a photo of you and your friends/family playing with your homemade Water Bombs and you might find your creation featured on the Upstart website… AND win a prize!
About Scouts Aotearoa…
We empower youth through adventurous experiences to lead lives that make a positive difference.
Scouts welcome young people between 5 and 26 and is open to all genders, ethnicities, religions, and abilities. All you need is a sense of adventure and fun!
The Scouts programme is designed to give you ownership of your own adventures.
We want every young person to feel empowered, have adventurous experiences and play an active part in improving their communities