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Living Well Mom

I help moms with simple, natural ways to look after their families. Find recipes, fun stuff for kids, and simple DIY ideas. Plus natural solutions made easy peasy!

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Reusable DIY Sponge Water Bombs For Endless Fun

By Amanda in Activities for Kids

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Do your kids love playing with water balloons? Never clean up water balloon messes again with addictively fun DIY sponge water bombs! They are super easy to make and will provide unlimited hours of play.

Even though we don’t have a pool, my children will play for hours in the backyard with small buckets and tubs of water. Nothing keeps them occupied longer, or tires them faster than running around the backyard playing with water. 

endlessly fun sponge water bombs pinterest image this idea now...

I’m not ashamed to admit that I often choose my summer activities with that goal in mind. I want those kiddos to fall into bed EARLY, happy, and exhausted!  

When my sister-in-law mentioned her children spent an entire afternoon playing with DIY sponge bombs, I couldn’t wait to make some for our house. I found a tutorial for making sponge bombs on Martha Stewart’s website and grabbed the supplies on my next shopping trip.

If you want a quick, cheap, and easy-to-make toy that is sure to wear your kids out, you have to try this sponge water bombs activity!

kids feet splashing in water next to a DIY water ball

Supplies needed to make sponge water bombs

Here’s what you’ll need for this project. You probably already have some of this at home and would just need to pick up some extras to make more balls. Just grab everything you need from the dollar store.

  • 3 kitchen sponges 
  • 1 hair elastic (or rubber band)
  • Pair of scissors
stack of colorful sponges and a hair tie

How to make sponge water bombs

You’re going to love how simple this project is! In just a few minutes, you will have several reusable sponge bombs. The kids will have just as much fun with these as they do with water balloons (without the mess or the hassle).

Step 1

Cut each sponge (the long way) into 3 roughly equal strips.

sponge cut into 3 strips

Step 2

Mix up the colors and stack the sponge strips 3 by 3.

colorful strips of sponges stacked

Step 3

Tightly wrap the hair elastic around the center of the sponge strips.

process photo for how to make DIY sponge water bomb

Step 4

Fluff up the sponge bomb by pulling each strip gently away from the others.

reusable water toy

And that’s it!  Super easy, right?

And they come together quickly, so in just 10 minutes or so, you can have several ready to take outside and use.

We live in the southeast, so our summer has been rain, rain, rain, and more rain. We’ve been waiting impatiently on pretty weather to play with these super fun toys. 

But, after catching my children leaping off furniture one too many times today, I decided it was time to go outside in spite of the pouring rain. 

sponge water bombs

They desperately needed to get some wiggles out, before something broke or I lost my temper with their pent-up energy.

It turns out that sponge bombs are perfect rainy-day toys!!! I can’t believe I waited so long to send the sponge bombs and the kids out into the rain.

girl holding homemade water bombs made from sponges

What to do with sponge water bombs

This summer, if you are looking for ways to keep your kids happy and entertained, sponge bombs may be the answer you are looking for. Buy yourself some valuable work time, or just eliminate boredom on a hot summer day!

These DIY water balls are also a great way to keep little ones active at a field day or other summer event.

As you can see from my pics, they also make for some great rainy-day fun. Sponge bomb puddle splashing was a hit – bonus points for splashing a sibling standing too close to a puddle!

And sponge water bomb tag is one of our new favorite fun summer activities!

girl tossing a DIY water ball

Sponge water bombs FAQs

I’ve been making these reusable sponge balls for years, and tend to get the same questions over and over about them, so answering them below in case you had the same question too!

How do you play with sponge bombs?

Once you finish making the sponge bombs, just fill a container with water. Then drop the sponge bombs into the bucket. They’ll soak up the water quickly! Once they’re filled with water, let the fun begin with some sponge bomb games!

What are ideas for sponge bomb games?

My kids had a blast playing tag. Of course, since it was so wet outside, we had to try sponge bomb puddle splashing. Other fun games could include sponge water bomb monkey in the middle, sponge bomb dodge ball, sponge toss, sponge bomb tennis, sponge bomb hot potato, and much more!

Let your kids get creative for endless hours of fun.

Can you reuse sponge water bombs?

Yes! Since they’re made from sponges, you can let your sponge bombs sit out and dry. Then store them somewhere out of the way until you want to pull them out and use them again. You can reuse them all summer long!

holding a sponge water toy

Think of this as an easier, better way to play with water balloons!

Rain or shine, fill buckets of water with sponge bombs for your kids. You’ll win super mom points, and get the best summer gift – happy and exhausted kids!

More summer fun

If you love this game idea, check out some of our other popular ideas.

  • Brilliant Ideas And Road Trip Games For Kids
  • Fun Indoor Activities For Boring Rainy Days
  • Creative Outdoor Activities For Kids
  • How To Make Homemade Bubbles
  • How To Make Painted Pet Rocks
4 step easy diy water bombs pin

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    Filed Under: Activities for Kids Published on December 27, 2022

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    About Amanda

    I’m Amanda, the homeschooling Mama of 6 children ages 10 down to newborn. I’m also a Momtographer, amateur seamstress, and blogger. Come visit me at Big Family Blessings where I blog about our fun and often chaotic life.

    Comments

    1. Mary Beth Elderton says

      July 17, 2013 at 8:06 pm

      So cool

      Reply
    2. Katherine G says

      July 17, 2013 at 9:29 pm

      Oh yeah I’m going to have to try these. My kids would love it.

      Reply
    3. Laura Smith says

      July 17, 2013 at 11:58 pm

      I am going to use this at my daughter’s birthday get together (party is in another town another day) Thanks this will be fun

      Reply
      • Erika says

        July 20, 2013 at 9:56 am

        Have fun!

        Reply
    4. Nicole B says

      July 23, 2013 at 12:29 pm

      So cute, Erika! And I love that they look fairly simple to make (I’m not super crafty!). My kids will love these. I’m going to get the stuff right now. It’s 100 degrees outside and they need something to cool off and get them out of the house. 🙂 Thanks for sharing the idea.

      Reply
    5. Eli@coachdaddy says

      August 7, 2013 at 4:42 pm

      Kids, nothing. I think grownups would have fun with this one! More likely, I’ll have to steal one from the kids to wash my car.

      Reply
    6. search engine optimization says

      December 13, 2013 at 5:00 pm

      Everything is very open with a really clear clarification
      of the challenges. It was definitely informative.
      Your website is very useful. Many thanks for sharing!

      Reply

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