Make Summer Awesome with this Water Blob Tutorial

How have you been keeping cool with the kids while still having fun outside?  

Summer is the perfect time for lots of fun water play activities.  

Last week we tried our hand at making a water blob.  We had so much fun with it I wanted to share this simple water blob tutorial with you.

If you are looking for more fun ideas, check out these backyard summer activities for kids. 

How to Make a Water Blob

Making the blob was super simple. 

We already had some heavy duty plastic in the garage, left over from when the house was built.  (Don’t have any?  Plastic sheeting is fairly inexpensive, and the plastic we used is still usable for painting, etc.) 

The only other materials you need to build your blob is duct tape and water.

I started in the garage by folding the plastic sheeting in half and trimming the uneven areas where we had cut from the roll before.  

It’s important to make sure that when you fold the sheet in half the edges line up with each other.  You don’t want the bottom half sticking an inch further out than the top, otherwise the water won’t stay in as well!

Then I ran duct tape across all three opened sides, leaving a small space on one inside corner to fit the hose through later.    I ran a little extra duct tape in the areas where the tape was overlapping with the next piece, just in case.

Then I dragged the empty blob outside and slid the hose about 2 feet into the little opening I had left. 

Once the water was turned on I checked for leaks and added additional duct tape as needed.  (Yes, eventually it’s going to leak anyway, but I wanted to start off with as few as leaks as possible.)  

This is the part where a little helper could come in handy, but isn’t necessary.  I wound up propping up the corner that the hose was run through so water wouldn’t just spill back out right away.  If you have a helper, they could hold up the corner for you while you repaired any leaks.

After I had sufficient water in the blob, I turned off the hose, slid it out, and put a few layers of duct tape over the opening that was left.

Then I called the kids.

They had fun walking on the blob and trying to step on the fish and boats I had stuck in there.

(I made them out of craft foam and just stuck them in before I added the water.  You could also use food coloring to color the water, or stick foam animals or other soft and water-proof items in there to add a little fun to the blob.)

The blob was a fun way to cool off without getting totally wet in a sprinkler or pool. 

Eventually water started leaking from the sides and onto the blob’s surface, so you might want your kiddos to wear a swimsuit, but for the most part they stayed dry.

Once we finished with the blob, I just removed the tape in the small area that the hose had fit through, leaving the rest taped so we could use the blob again another day. 

Then I hung it over the fence to dry.

Super simple and lots of fun. 

I’m already thinking of what treasures I can put inside the blob for them to explore next time…

If you enjoyed learning how to make a water blob, check out some of our other ideas for staying cool this summer.

• 20 Ways Kids Can Stay Cool with Ice
• Frozen-Inspired Sensory Play