Backyard Water Park {guest post by Cassie}

**You guys. I have been slightly MIA, I know. I have a gazillion awesome blog post ideas running around in my head…and my days are not leaving me any time to put words to type. Yesterday I was going to blog, and then our ceiling nearly fell apart from a shower leak in the master bath upstairs. It was nuts. So, while I’m dealing with an office that is in shambles with a gaping hole in the ceiling, Cassie Kent is here with a way more fun post about summer water play. Yes, we both know that summer is nearly gone, BUT good ideas are good ideas no matter when we share them. Enjoy!! Thanks so much, Cassie, for the guest post!**

 

 
I posted over a week ago all the fun details of Gigi’s Frozen birthday party.  One of the huge things we did was make our backyard into an interactive water park for the kids.  Not only was it a perfect way for the kids to have a TON of fun at the party, but it was a great’ time to say ‘adios’ to the lazy days of summer and kick off the school year right.  So here is all the main components that went into making this day wonderfully wet.
 
 
First up the heavy hitter for the day, The WATER BLOB. We had to practically drag the kids off it in order to eat cake, which was not a problem I would ever thought possible.
 
 
 
 
 
Tutorial on how to make the “Water Blob”

 

1. Buy a package of Plastic Sheeting. The thick kind (3.5 mil), this one even had a moisture barrier (perfect!). I got the 10ftx25ft, but I cut it because it was just way to big, so it was more like 10x20ish.
 
2. Fold it in half
 
 
3. Take a piece of parchment paper, mine was approximately two feet in length, fold in half
 
4. Measure about 2.5 inches up from the folded side of your paper, and make a line that goes all the way across your paper. This will be your guide while ironing.
 
5. Turn iron on high. I found it easy enough to use my ironing board on the floor, since the plastic is so heavy
 
6. Sit yourself, the iron and ironing board down by your plastic on the floor. Start at one corner that is by the fold and work your way around.
 

 

 7. Parchment paper with the folded side closest to you and open side facing out. Pull your plastic sheeting into your parchment paper guide (its kind of like a pocket) all the way until it hits your fold


8. Iron the parchment paper (with the plastic sheeting in it) ironing the complete area under the line you made earlier. Do not go slow. Quick back and forth movements a few times will suffice. You do not want to completely melt the plastic or create holes
 
9. Let the plastic cool maybe 20 seconds after you take the iron off before attempting the take off the parchment paper. Once it is cooled slowly take it our of your parchment pocket, check to make sure it looks similar to the above picture 
 
10.  Keep going around until it is finished, pay close attention to corners and go over them a few times if needed. Do NOT forget to leave a little hole for the hose to fit through!

 

 11. When it is time to fill it up make sure to choose a place that is as flat as possible. **we had a slight incline on one side, so it made for a little bit lopsided blob and air bubbles…both things the kids did not notice =)**



12. Prop your hose up on a 1-2 foot object so that as the blob fills up, the hose does not come out



13. After the blob was slightly full I added, water coloring (one whole bottle), glitter and foam cut outs to create more interest



14. After the Blob is filled up enough to your liking (it took about hour) seal the hole with duct tape. **after trial and error, we found that sealing the seem with one piece of tape, then folding it and taping it again worked best , dont be afraid to be generous with the tape!**



15. We also squirted water on top of the blob to make is slippery and wet 



16. Go WILD!



***Notes***

-Once we had about 6+ kids on it at one time, the blob did get a hole, BUT the water did not gush out of it like I thought would happen, in fact it still retained its shape…and made it more fun, the kids would jump on it and then water would squirt out! It is probably because the hole was on the top of the blob, I am sure it was on the bottom it would not have been as much fun. I was super impressed how durable it was- it lasted through a 3 hour party of 10 kids, I am pretty happy about that! 

-Also, please note if you fill the blob with glitter and then drain it in your backyard, you will have a sparkling, shimmery, blinding backyard for who knows how long- we are still reaping the effects

– I have to give a shot out to Leisha from Homemade Toast for creating this genius method of making the blob without so much tape and I think with better results! Of course ours still leaked, but that was inevitable with so many kids on it.


 

 

 

 Freeze a little toy and let the kids figure out how to get it out! They used hammers, spoons, threw it on the concrete (make sure to supervise that one!) or let it melt on the hot concrete until they found their new prized possession!


 

 This fun water element- Liter Bottle Shower- is made with: 1- 2 Liter Bottle, female to female connector (found at Home Depot), drill holes in the bottom and attach to hose….voila! Splash Zone!




 

 Another fun way to get wet was throwing around SPONGE BOMBS! Whether you were being hit by one, or just happened to be underneath as they were being launched around the backyard, you were sure to get wet!

 

 
 

1. I bought about a dozen or so sponges at the 99 cent store (2 pack for $1!) 

2. Cut the sponges into stripes

3. Stack them on top of themselves- I did 6 stripes but you could easily do 8 or 4 just depends on how big or small you want them

4. Cut a strong string

5. Tie tight around and knot it well

6. Bombs AWAY! Your in business!

 
No backyard in the summer is ever complete with out a classic slip n’ slide! We found this simple one at Wal Mart for $10 and this is our 3rd summer using it! I think we got our money’s worth for sure!
 
I hope you all had a fun and memorable summer! Cannot wait to see what festivities the fall will bring, ahem….my 30th birthday being one!
 
What fun things did you do this summer?!!

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4 Comments

    1. Thanks, Cassie!

      The leak, well, it’s only leaky if it’s raining. We’re still working on getting it fixed. Eventually.

      Reply

  2. Hey,

    I recently came across your site and I’m wondering if I can post one of my articles here.

    I’ve been writing up home improvement articles too and would love the chance to write
    on your blog but I couldn’t manage to find your email. If you could get ahold of me at ikatie.jones@outlook.com?, I would greatly appreciate it.

    Thanks,
    Katie

    Reply

    1. Thanks for getting in touch! I will email you. I’m sorry you couldn’t find a contact. I will fix that on my site, too.

      Reply

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