Have a Leaky Cups Race

Most of the time you advise your child to be careful not to spill. Not this time! Bend the rules (outside, of course) for this fun competition that makes an excellent warm weather game. Kids will dunk cups poked with holes into water and race against each other to see who can fill up their bucket the fastest! The leaky cups add excitement to the competition, and also keep your child active. This game is a great way to combat summer boredom and is perfect for warm days, parties, and picnics.

What You Need:

• Paper or Styrofoam cups
• Large safety pins
• At least four buckets

What to Do:

1. Use the safety pin to poke some holes in the middle and bottom of each cup.
2. Go outside and decide where the starting line and the finish line will be. Make sure they are about 10 feet apart. Set two empty buckets at the finish line and two buckets full of water at the starting line, and space the buckets a few feet apart on either end.
3. Divide the players into two teams. If you have an uneven number, have one person on the team with less players take two turns. This game can also be played one-on-one, with just two players competing against each other.
4. Choose one person from each team to go first, and have the rest of the teammates line up behind the leader. Give every player a cup with holes in it.
5. On your signal, each player at the front of the line fills her cup with water and races to the other end to dump it into her team's empty bucket. When one player returns, the next person goes, and so on. Set a predetermined time (between 1-5 minutes) for the competition to last. Water will leak out and spill which will urge your child to run back and fourth faster!
6. Times up! Whichever team ends up with the most water in their bucket is the winner!