Water Games for Camp

Sponge, balloon, hose and sprinkler games for a dry field, ages 6 to 12: press Pick 3 new games.

Water Games for Camp

  1. Exactly Ten Cups, Carried by Sponge1. Each cabin has an empty bucket ten paces from the fill tub, and one big sponge. 2. Runners soak the sponge, carry it over and squeeze it into the cabin bucket, one camper at a time. 3. The cabin decides for itself when the bucket holds ten cups of water, and sits down. 4. A counselor measures each bucket out with a cup. The cabin closest to ten wins, over or under. Adult: a counselor at the fill tub, who empties it afterward. Gets wet: hands and arms. Ages 8 to 12. Players: 6 to 40 in cabin teams. Time: 10 min. Props: a fill tub, a measuring cup, and a bucket and a big sponge for each cabin.
  2. Guard the Bucket With a Noodle1. Stand an empty bucket in the middle of a circle of campers, four paces away from it. 2. One camper guards it with a foam pool noodle. 3. The circle throws soaked sponges underhand at the bucket, and the guard bats them away. 4. A camper whose sponge lands in the bucket becomes the new guard. The noodle swings at sponges only. Adult: a counselor at the fill tub, who empties it afterward. Gets wet: the guard, from head to shoes. Ages 8 to 12. Players: 6 to 16. Time: 10 min. Props: a bucket, a pool noodle, a tub of water and four sponges.
  3. Ladle Walk With a Water Balloon1. Each cabin has two soup ladles and one small water balloon. 2. The first camper carries the balloon in the ladle around a cone ten paces away and back, one hand behind the back. 3. The balloon is tipped from ladle to ladle for the next camper. Hands never touch it. 4. A burst balloon costs a walk back to the tub for a new one. First cabin home wins. Ask about latex allergy first. Adult: a counselor fills and ties every balloon and picks up every scrap at once, because children under eight can choke on a broken balloon. Gets wet: feet and legs. Players: 6 to 30 in cabin teams. Time: 10 min. Props: cones, a tub of small filled water balloons and two ladles for each cabin.

Next step Dry camp games for the rest of the day

How it works

These water games for camp need a field, a hose and no pool. Each one is written as numbered steps for ages 6 to 12, names the adult who watches and says what gets wet.

Read the full guide

Run a water afternoon

1. Start with Sponges and buckets, while everyone is still dry enough to line up. 2. Bring out the Water balloon games next, with one adult on scrap patrol. 3. Turn on the hose for Cup and hose games or Sprinkler games once shirts are wet anyway. 4. End on the grass with one of the Quiet cool-downs.

Choose by what the camp owns

Under More filters, the last entry of the All games menu, Buckets, cups and sponges hides every game that needs a balloon or a hose, and Age 6 keeps the games the youngest cabin can play.

Tips
  • Move the fill tubs a few paces between games, before the grass around them turns to mud.
  • Tell campers the day before, so that they bring a towel and shoes that can get wet.

Questions and answers

Which camp water games work without a pool?

All of these. Every game runs on a field with tubs, a hose or a sprinkler. Sponge Around the Ring, Feet Only needs one bucket and one big sponge, and Full Cup, Slow Lap a cup and a jug.

What water games can a whole camp play at once?

Run Through If and Simon Says at the Sprinkler take every cabin together, and Earn a Cup for the Counselor seats up to sixty around one chair. The relays split any number into cabin teams.

Who watches during the water balloon games?

A counselor fills and ties every balloon and picks up every scrap at once, because children under eight can choke on a broken balloon. Every balloon game repeats that line and asks about latex allergy first.

How wet do campers get?

It depends on the game, and each one says. Quiet cool-downs wet little more than fingers and hands. Catch the Hose Rain in a Cup and Run Through If soak everything, so save them for a hot afternoon.

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All 33 games

Sponges and buckets 9

  • Exactly Ten Cups, Carried by Sponge 1. Each cabin has an empty bucket ten paces from the fill tub, and one big sponge. 2. Runners soak the sponge, carry it over and squeeze it into the cabin bucket, one camper at a time. 3. The cabin decides for itself when the bucket holds ten cups of water, and sits down. 4. A counselor measures each bucket out with a cup. The cabin closest to ten wins, over or under. Adult: a counselor at the fill tub, who empties it afterward. Gets wet: hands and arms. Ages 8 to 12. Players: 6 to 40 in cabin teams. Time: 10 min. Props: a fill tub, a measuring cup, and a bucket and a big sponge for each cabin.
  • Eyes-Shut Pour, Partner Calls the Aim 1. Stand an empty jar on the grass for each pair. 2. One partner holds a full cup over the jar with eyes shut. 3. The other says left, right, forward and pour, and may not touch the cup or the jar. 4. Each partner pours four cups. The pair with the most water in its jar wins. Adult: a counselor at the fill tub, who empties it afterward. Gets wet: hands and feet. Ages 8 to 12. Players: 2 to 30 in pairs. Time: 8 min. Props: a fill tub, and a cup and a jar for each pair.
  • Guard the Bucket With a Noodle 1. Stand an empty bucket in the middle of a circle of campers, four paces away from it. 2. One camper guards it with a foam pool noodle. 3. The circle throws soaked sponges underhand at the bucket, and the guard bats them away. 4. A camper whose sponge lands in the bucket becomes the new guard. The noodle swings at sponges only. Adult: a counselor at the fill tub, who empties it afterward. Gets wet: the guard, from head to shoes. Ages 8 to 12. Players: 6 to 16. Time: 10 min. Props: a bucket, a pool noodle, a tub of water and four sponges.
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Sponges and buckets, continued

  • Sponge Around the Ring, Feet Only 1. The cabin sits in a circle on the grass with shoes off and legs out. 2. A counselor drops a soaked sponge onto the first camper's feet. 3. It goes around the circle from feet to feet. Hands stay behind backs. 4. A dropped sponge is soaked again and goes on from where it fell. Count the campers it passes in two minutes, then try to beat the count. Adult: a counselor with the bucket, who empties it afterward. Gets wet: feet and legs. Players: 6 to 20. Time: 5 min. Props: a bucket of water and a big sponge.
  • Sponge Carry on Two Noodles 1. Campers pair up, and each one holds a foam pool noodle. 2. The pair lifts a soaked sponge out of the tub by pinching it between the two noodles. 3. They walk it ten paces and press the noodles together over the cabin bucket. 4. A dropped sponge goes back to the tub. After three minutes the fullest bucket wins. Adult: a counselor at the fill tub, who empties it afterward. Gets wet: hands and feet. Ages 7 to 12. Players: 4 to 40 in pairs. Time: 8 min. Props: a fill tub, sponges, two pool noodles for each pair and a bucket for each cabin.
  • Sponge Chain Toss Down the Line 1. Each cabin stands in a line with three paces between campers. 2. The camper at the tub soaks the sponge and throws it underhand to the next in line. 3. It is thrown on from camper to camper. The last one squeezes what is left into a jar and runs the sponge to the front. 4. Everyone moves down one place. After four minutes the fullest jar wins. Adult: a counselor at the fill tub, who empties it afterward. Gets wet: hands, arms and shirts. Players: 8 to 40 in cabin teams. Time: 8 min. Props: a fill tub, a sponge and a jar for each cabin.
  • Sponge Shuffleboard on a Wet Tarp 1. Wet a tarp and mark three bands across the far end with tape: 1, 2 and 3 points. 2. A camper kneels at the near edge and pushes a soaked sponge so that it slides. 3. The sponge scores for the band it stops in. Off the end scores nothing. 4. Three slides each, and the cabin adds its points. Only the sponge slides: nobody goes onto the tarp. Adult: a counselor at the tarp, who keeps campers off it. Gets wet: hands and knees. Players: 4 to 30. Time: 10 min. Props: a tarp, tape, a bucket of water and three sponges.
  • Sponge the Newspaper Until It Falls 1. Clip one sheet of newspaper for each cabin to a string tied between two trees. 2. Cabins line up five paces back, each with a tub and two sponges. 3. Campers take turns throwing a soaked sponge at their sheet. 4. Wet paper tears. The first sheet to drop off its clothespins wins, and each cabin carries its paper to the recycling bin. Adult: a counselor at the fill tub, who empties it afterward. Gets wet: hands and arms. Players: 6 to 30 in cabin teams. Time: 8 min. Props: string, clothespins, newspaper, and a tub and two sponges for each cabin.
  • Wash the Chalk Off the Blacktop 1. Draw a chalk square as wide as a doormat for each cabin and color it in. 2. Cabins stand behind a line five paces back, with a tub of sponges beside them. 3. On go, campers throw soaked sponges at their own square, fetch them, soak them and throw again. 4. The first cabin with no chalk left to see wins. Adult: a counselor at the fill tub, who empties it afterward. Gets wet: hands, legs and feet. Players: 6 to 40 in cabin teams. Time: 8 min. Props: chalk, a tub of water and three sponges for each cabin.

Water balloon games 6

  • Call a Name, Toss the Balloon 1. The cabin stands in a circle with one water balloon. 2. A camper calls a name across the circle, then throws underhand to that camper. 3. Nobody is called twice until everyone has caught once. 4. Count the catches out loud. If the balloon bursts, start a new one from zero and try to beat the count. Ask about latex allergy first. Adult: a counselor fills and ties every balloon and picks up every scrap at once, because children under eight can choke on a broken balloon. Gets wet: hands and shirts. Players: 6 to 20. Time: 8 min. Props: six filled water balloons in a tub.
  • Hidden Balloons, Carried Home Whole 1. While the cabins face away, a counselor sets thirty small water balloons around the edge of the field, low down and in plain sight. 2. On go, campers search. Each may carry one balloon at a time, in two hands. 3. Found balloons go into the cabin's own tub. 4. When all thirty are in, each whole balloon scores one. Ask about latex allergy first. Adult: a counselor fills and ties every balloon and picks up every scrap at once, because children under eight can choke on a broken balloon. Gets wet: hands. Players: 6 to 40 in cabin teams. Time: 10 min. Props: thirty small filled water balloons and a tub for each cabin.
  • Ladle Walk With a Water Balloon 1. Each cabin has two soup ladles and one small water balloon. 2. The first camper carries the balloon in the ladle around a cone ten paces away and back, one hand behind the back. 3. The balloon is tipped from ladle to ladle for the next camper. Hands never touch it. 4. A burst balloon costs a walk back to the tub for a new one. First cabin home wins. Ask about latex allergy first. Adult: a counselor fills and ties every balloon and picks up every scrap at once, because children under eight can choke on a broken balloon. Gets wet: feet and legs. Players: 6 to 30 in cabin teams. Time: 10 min. Props: cones, a tub of small filled water balloons and two ladles for each cabin.
  • Line Up Five Balloons, Lightest to Heaviest 1. A counselor fills five balloons with different amounts of water and numbers them with a marker. 2. Campers hold two at a time, one in each hand, and agree on an order from lightest to heaviest. 3. The cabin lays the five in a row on the grass. 4. The counselor empties each one into a measuring cup to check the order. A point for every balloon in the right place. Ask about latex allergy first. Adult: a counselor fills and ties every balloon and picks up every scrap at once, because children under eight can choke on a broken balloon. Gets wet: hands. Players: 3 to 12. Time: 8 min. Props: five filled water balloons, a marker and a measuring cup.
  • Who Holds the Balloon Behind Their Back? 1. The cabin stands in a tight circle with hands behind backs. One camper stands in the middle with eyes closed. 2. A counselor puts a small water balloon into one pair of hands. 3. The middle camper opens their eyes. The circle passes the balloon behind backs, or pretends to. 4. The middle camper has three guesses at who holds it. Right or wrong, the holder goes to the middle next. Ask about latex allergy first. Adult: a counselor fills and ties every balloon and picks up every scrap at once, because children under eight can choke on a broken balloon. Gets wet: hands, if a balloon bursts. Players: 8 to 20. Time: 8 min. Props: three small filled water balloons.
  • Whole Balloons Down the Line 1. Each cabin stands in a line between a tub of filled balloons and an empty tub. 2. Balloons travel down the line from hand to hand, one after another. 3. In round two everyone but the first camper passes with eyes closed. 4. After two minutes, count the whole balloons in the far tub. Burst ones do not count. Ask about latex allergy first. Adult: a counselor fills and ties every balloon and picks up every scrap at once, because children under eight can choke on a broken balloon. Gets wet: hands and feet. Players: 8 to 40 in cabin teams. Time: 8 min. Props: two tubs and about fifteen filled water balloons for each cabin.

Cup and hose games 7

  • Build a Foil Channel to the Far Bucket 1. Each cabin gets a roll of kitchen foil and a bucket standing six paces down a gentle slope. 2. In ten minutes the cabin builds a channel from the start line to its bucket, propped on sticks and stones it finds. 3. A counselor pours one full jug in at the top of each channel. 4. The cabin with the most water in its bucket wins. Then every cabin rolls up its foil for the recycling. Adult: a counselor pours every jug and empties the buckets afterward. Gets wet: hands. Ages 8 to 12. Players: 6 to 40 in cabin teams. Time: 20 min. Props: a roll of kitchen foil and a bucket for each cabin, and a jug of water.
  • Catch the Hose Rain in a Cup 1. Mark a circle on the grass about six paces across. 2. Campers stand inside it, each holding a cup on top of their head with one hand. 3. A counselor points the spray straight up, so that it falls on the circle like rain, for thirty seconds. 4. Everyone pours what they caught into the cabin jar. Three showers, and the fullest jar wins. Adult: a counselor holds the hose and stands at the faucet. Gets wet: hair, shirts and everything else. Players: 4 to 30. Time: 8 min. Props: a garden hose with a spray nozzle, a cup each and a jar for each cabin.
  • Earn a Cup for the Counselor 1. A counselor who has volunteered sits in a chair on the grass beside a bucket of water. 2. Cabins take turns answering questions about camp: the names of every cabin, what was for breakfast, the words of the camp song. 3. Each right answer earns one cup of water, poured over the counselor's shoulders by a camper from that cabin. 4. The game ends when the bucket is empty. Adult: the counselor in the chair, and a second one who asks the questions. Gets wet: the counselor. Players: 6 to 60. Time: 10 min. Props: a chair, a bucket of water, a cup and a list of camp questions.
  • Jump the Stream, Ankle High 1. Campers stand in a line across the grass, an arm's length apart. 2. A counselor sweeps a stream of water slowly along the ground at ankle height, from one end of the line to the other. 3. Each camper jumps as it reaches them. 4. The cabin counts its dry jumps. After each sweep the stream rises a little, and it stops at the height of a shin. Adult: a counselor holds the hose and stands at the faucet. Gets wet: ankles and shoes. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 8 min. Props: a garden hose.
  • Red Light, Green Light With the Hose 1. A counselor stands with the hose, back turned to a line of campers twenty paces away, and calls green light. 2. Campers creep forward. On red light the counselor turns around, and everyone freezes. 3. A camper caught moving gets a splash on the shoes and goes back to the start line. 4. The first camper to reach the counselor chooses how everyone moves in the next round: hopping, crawling, backward. Adult: a counselor holds the hose the whole time and aims below the knees. Gets wet: shoes and legs. Players: 4 to 30. Time: 10 min. Props: a garden hose with a spray nozzle.
  • Three Cups Overhead: One Is Full 1. A camper who wants a turn sits in a chair facing away from the table. 2. A counselor fills one of three plastic cups and leaves two empty, then turns the camper around. 3. The camper picks a cup and tips it over their own head. 4. A camper who picks an empty cup stays dry, and chooses the next volunteer. Nobody is made to take a turn. Adult: a counselor fills the cups. Gets wet: hair and shirts, for one camper in three. Players: 4 to 30. Time: 8 min. Props: a chair, a jug of water and three plastic cups you cannot see through.
  • Throw the Water, Catch It in a Cup 1. Partners face each other one pace apart, each with a cup. One cup is full. 2. The thrower tosses the water, not the cup. The catcher catches what they can in the empty cup. 3. The caught water is poured into the pair's jar, and both take one step back. 4. Five throws each way. The pair with the most water in its jar wins. Adult: a counselor at the fill tub, who empties it afterward. Gets wet: arms, shirts and faces. Ages 7 to 12. Players: 2 to 30 in pairs. Time: 8 min. Props: a fill tub, and two cups and a jar for each pair.

Sprinkler games 5

  • Beach Ball Through the Spray 1. Two lines of campers face each other with the sprinkler running between them. 2. A beach ball is thrown through the spray from one line to the other, and back. 3. Count the catches in a row. A dropped ball starts the count again. 4. At ten catches, both lines take a step back. Adult: a counselor at the faucet. Gets wet: arms, faces and shirts. Players: 4 to 24. Time: 8 min. Props: a lawn sprinkler and a beach ball.
  • Find the Rainbow in the Mist 1. On a sunny day a counselor sets the nozzle to a fine mist and holds it high. 2. Campers walk slowly around the mist, looking into it. 3. The first to see a rainbow stands still and points. Everyone else comes to stand at that spot and look. 4. If nobody finds it within a minute, give the clue: stand so that the sun is behind you. Adult: a counselor holds the hose and stands at the faucet. Gets wet: almost nothing: faces, a little. Players: 2 to 30. Time: 5 min. Props: a garden hose with a mist setting, and sunshine.
  • Run Through If 1. The whole group lines up on one side of a running sprinkler. 2. A counselor calls a line: run through if you are wearing blue, if you can whistle, if you slept in a top bunk. 3. Everyone it fits runs through the spray to the far side. 4. After each line, a camper who has crossed makes up the next one. The last line is always: run through if you are at camp. Adult: a counselor at the faucet, who moves the sprinkler before the grass turns to mud. Gets wet: everything. Players: 6 to 60. Time: 8 min. Props: a lawn sprinkler.
  • Simon Says at the Sprinkler 1. Campers stand in a ring around a running sprinkler, just out of its reach. 2. A counselor gives orders: Simon says put one elbow in the spray, Simon says hop once around the ring. 3. An order without the words Simon says is not to be followed. 4. In the usual game a mistake puts a player out. Here it earns one run through the spray, and the player comes straight back in. Adult: the counselor who gives the orders, and one at the faucet. Gets wet: elbows first, then everything. Players: 4 to 40. Time: 8 min. Props: a lawn sprinkler.
  • The Sprinkler Is Base, for a Count of Five 1. Mark a square about twenty paces wide with the sprinkler in the middle. Two campers are taggers. 2. A camper standing in the spray cannot be tagged, and must count to five out loud. 3. At five the camper has to leave, and may not come back until someone else has used the base. 4. A tag is a flat hand on the arm or back. A tagged camper trades places with the tagger. Adult: a counselor at the faucet, who stops the game if the grass gets slippery. Gets wet: everything. Ages 7 to 12. Players: 6 to 24. Time: 10 min. Props: a lawn sprinkler and four cones.

Quiet cool-downs 6

  • Do Not Sink the Little Tub 1. Float a small plastic tub in a large tub of water. 2. Campers take turns adding one pebble to the small tub. 3. Each camper says before their turn whether they think it will still float. 4. The camper whose pebble sinks it fishes the pebbles out and starts the next round. Adult: a counselor at the tub, who empties it afterward. Gets wet: hands. Players: 3 to 12. Time: 10 min. Props: a large tub of water, a small plastic tub and a pile of pebbles.
  • Drop Race Down a Tilted Tray 1. Two campers hold a baking tray flat between them. 2. Four others each place one drop of water on a line at the top edge, with a fingertip. 3. On go, the holders tilt the tray a little. 4. The first drop to reach the bottom edge wins, and its owner holds the tray for the next race. Adult: a counselor who starts each race. Gets wet: fingertips. Ages 7 to 12. Players: 4 to 12. Time: 8 min. Props: a baking tray and a cup of water.
  • Full Cup, Slow Lap 1. The cabin sits in a circle. A counselor fills a cup to the very top. 2. The cup goes around the circle from hand to hand, with no talking. 3. Count in your heads how many campers it passes before the first drop falls on the grass. 4. Fill it again and try to beat the number. Older cabins pass it with eyes closed. Adult: a counselor with the jug. Gets wet: fingers and knees. Players: 5 to 20. Time: 5 min. Props: a cup and a jug of water.
  • Guess the Squeezes to Fill a Cup 1. Show the cabin a sponge and an empty cup. 2. Each camper guesses how many squeezes of the soaked sponge will fill the cup, and holds up that many fingers. 3. One camper soaks and squeezes while everyone counts out loud. 4. The closest guess chooses the next test: a smaller sponge, a bigger cup, one hand only. Adult: a counselor with the bucket, who empties it afterward. Gets wet: one camper's hands. Players: 3 to 20. Time: 8 min. Props: a bucket of water, two sponges of different sizes and two cups.
  • Which Handprint Dries First? 1. Each camper wets one hand in the tub. 2. Half the cabin presses a print onto pavement in the sun, and half onto pavement in the shade. 3. Everyone guesses out loud which print will be gone first. 4. Sit and watch. The owner of the last print to disappear picks the next spot to test: a rock, a bench, a tree trunk. Adult: a counselor at the tub, who empties it afterward. Gets wet: one hand each. Players: 2 to 20. Time: 8 min. Props: a tub of water and a patch of dry pavement.
  • Will It Float? Thumbs Up, Then Test 1. Each camper brings one thing found on the field: a twig, a pebble, a pine cone, a leaf. 2. The cabin sits around a tub of water. One camper holds up their find. 3. Everyone votes with a thumb: up for float, down for sink. 4. The finder lowers it onto the water. Sort the finds into two piles as you go, and put them back where they came from. Adult: a counselor at the tub, who empties it afterward. Gets wet: fingers. Players: 3 to 20. Time: 10 min. Props: a tub of water and things found on the field.

How this list was compiled: Written by the Game Night Generator editors on 2026-10-03 for a counselor with a field, a hose and no pool, and campers of 6 to 12. The wording is ours, and player ranges, minutes and ages are our estimates; a game that starts at 7 or 8 says so. Every game names the adult who watches and says what gets wet. Nobody slides. The line in every balloon game follows US Consumer Product Safety Commission safety alert 5087, read on 2026-10-03: https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/5087.pdf. The rules of the two traditional games and where a rainbow stands in the sky were checked on 2026-10-03 against English Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ followed by the name): Statues_(game), Simon_Says, Rainbow. Licence: own work