Water bombs are the ideal water toy for a fun afternoon in the garden this summer. Filling conventional water balloons is tedious, they make a mess and only work once. Make your own water balloons that can be used over and over again with zero waste. The following DIY water bombs are durable and can hold a lot of water, making them ideal for repeated use. Your kids will have hours of fun playing and it won’t cost you a fortune. Discover in the following article how you can make and fill water bombs – these DIY projects help against heat!
Why are reusable water bombs better than water balloons?
A water balloon fight on a hot summer day is great fun. But then you have to spend the rest of the day picking up all the little pieces of broken balloons. If you want to have another water balloon fight, you have to refill the balloons, which costs you time and money. Also, water balloons are great for kids, but they’re terrible for the planet. For example, making water bombs out of sponges or rags is a fun and eco-friendly summer pastime for kids. While latex balloons are biodegradable, they can take up to four years to fully degrade in the environment. In the meantime, they destroy nature.
Balloons that end up in the sea are often mistaken for food by marine animals such as sea turtles, dolphins and fish. The animals can starve if the balloons get stuck in their digestive system. Balloons aren’t just a threat to aquatic wildlife. Balloon debris that falls to the ground can be mistaken for food by birds and other animals. Luckily there are greener alternatives that are just as fun as water balloons!
Making and filling water bombs – DIY projects
To beat the summer heat, nothing beats a fun water bomb battle with reusable water balloons.
DIY water balloons made from sponges and rubber bands
Water bombs are easy to make using strips of sponge and a rubber band or hair tie. These water-soaking balls are fun to throw around. You can use them anywhere you would use water balloons or a ball in the great outdoors. Sponge bombs are a great alternative to water balloons because they can be reused and don’t require a lot of cleaning up afterwards. You only need 10 minutes and the new DIY toy is ready!
Materials:
18 sponges 9 rubber bands scissors
Step-by-step instructions:
1. The sponges should be halved lengthwise to make 4 pieces.
2. Place 4 sponges on a table and then 4 more on top.
3. To keep them from falling apart, tie them tightly with a rubber band and pinch them in the middle.
4. After that, form a ball by gently pulling and twisting the ends of the pieces of sponge together.
Making and filling water bombs – DIY project with leftover fleece fabric
Find out how to make your own reusable water bombs out of sponge and fleece fabric. This is an easy summer sewing project that will keep you entertained for hours.
What you need:
Some sponges Sewing machine scraps of fleece fabric
Tipp: You can also use the following materials instead of a few sponges – used towels, rags, sponge cloths, etc. Anything that has a high water absorption capacity is ideal.
Step-by-step instructions:
1. Please take the time to measure your filler or sponge. Also measure the height. Find the circumference of your circle after adding the seam allowance.
2. To make the sewing process easier, you can make your circles slightly larger than necessary. Two circles are required for each reusable water balloon.
3. Place a circle shape on the table. Cover them with the stuffing or sponge. Cut the outline of the top circle together to form a unit.
4. Use a zigzag stitch on your sewing machine or an overlock machine to sew around the perimeter of the circle. Both methods are effective and stable, but the overlock sewing machine is probably a little quicker.
5. Now you can start the game immediately and fill the DIY water bombs in a bucket with water! Submerge the homemade reusable water balloon in a bucket of water. Note that it takes a while for the fleece fabric to soak up the water.
Make reusable water bombs yourself and use old cloth
These eco-friendly DIY water balloons are a fantastic replacement for traditional, wasteful balloons. When the kids have water balloon fights, the next few weeks are often spent collecting the balloon pieces that end up in the backyard. This simple sewing project can significantly reduce the time it takes to set up and clean up. You no longer have to fill 10 water balloons in 30 minutes.
What do you need?
Cloth scissors Marker Pen Needle Some stuffing, some terry cloth Some pins
Get some fresh towels if you don’t have old ones lying around.
Step-by-step instructions:
1. You should first save the free template below and then print it out. Then trim them when you’re done. First, separate the pattern pieces.
2. Cut out the pieces after tracing them onto a tea towel or other washable fabric. A pair of identical parts are required for each water balloon. Both a small and large version of the template are included. You can design each ball in a different color.
3. Create a center overlap by placing one of your cutouts perpendicular to the other. Place the right edge of the top piece over the right center of the bottom piece. If you are not working with terry cloth and your fabric has right and wrong sides, you should now align the correct sides.
4. Secure the parts with a pin. Start sewing with a few millimeters seam allowance at the right intersection of the two pieces. Continue stitching along the edge, adjusting the alignment of the pieces as needed. As you continue, the spherical shape will take shape. Leave 5 cm of unsewn edge of fabric.
5. Then turn your fabric pieces inside out. In order to achieve the desired stiffness, a fiber filling can be introduced into the ball. Balls with a lower hardness can store more liquid. They are also better suited for small handles.
6. Take a thread and a needle. Finally, sew up the opening.
Play with reusable water balloons
Working from home this summer? Water bombs are a great, screen-free way to keep the kids busy so you can get some work done. When you’ve completed your bombs, you can fill them up by dipping them in a bucket of water. This way everyone can have fun getting wet without leaving a pile of broken water balloons to clean up. Here we have 3 more games that you can try with your kids!
Accurate sponge bombardments
Place a target on the ground and use chalk to award points for each ring. You line up and see who can throw the most sponge bombs and collect the most points.
Throwing games against heat
Throwing games are one of the best water bomb activities and this game is guaranteed to get everyone laughing and wet. A group of children stand together and all but one are holding a bomb. All children throw their water bombs in the air at the same time and try to catch them. Anyone who misses a bomb is eliminated from the game. The surviving players start a new round with one less water bomb than there are participants.
Water Bomb Pong
Fill several buckets with water and arrange them in a triangle. Each column gets a certain number of points. The children can line up and take turns throwing water bombs into the water buckets. The winner is the player who has the most points after 5 throws.
You can find out how to make crafts with seashells here.