A Kool-Aid War is all about good, cool, fragrant fun!

Plan a Kool-Aid war during the summer months...a great "cooling off" event with a twist.

 

Water Shooters

Water shooters are normally $1.00 each. You can sometimes find packages of 5 at a discount price. Purchase at Wal-Mart, The Dollar Store, or other discount stores.

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WORD TO THE WISE...Purchase your water shooters as soon as they become available in the stores (summer merchandise). They will sell out quickly! (purchase extras for paint wars and for replacement as needed. They are long-lasting however, they WILL break sooner or later. 

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Eye Protection

Eye protection - I normally do not provide swim goggles for this event however I do tell the children to bring their own goggles if desired.  Eye-protection glasses will not stay on long with this event. If you have a budget for swim goggles, it would be a good idea to provide it. We do have a "no headshots" rule.

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Buckets

You will need several 5-gallon buckets filled with water. The number will depend on how many children you have. (Figure 1 bucket per 6-10 kids)

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Kool-Aid

Strawberry, Grape, Orange...any fruity-smelling flavors.

Figure 3 packages of Kool-Aid per 5-gallon bucket of water. Make sure to purchase extra for re-filling buckets

Don't forget to pick up some 5-gallon paint sticks (or a long handle wooden spoon, etc) to stir the kool-aid with.

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Water Hose 

It is a good idea to have a long water hose attached to the hydrant. It is much easier to stretch the hose to every 5-gallon bucket to fill. Full buckets are heavy!

(I purchased one of the lightweight expandable hoses...super light and durable. I just toss it into a 5-gallon bucket when done and take it with me. They are a little pricey so I purchased them myself and keep them with me at all times...they tend to grow legs and walk off)

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Whistle

A whistle is always a great thing to have when playing outdoors

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Let the Games Begin

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1. ​Hook up the water hose

2. Fill a 5-gallon bucket with water (Figure one bucket per 6-10 kids - re-fill as needed)

3. Pour 3 packages of Kool-Aid into each bucket of water. (Prepare a bucket of grape, a bucket of strawberry, a bucket of orange, etc) DO NOT ADD SUGAR 

4. Stir each bucket of kool-aid (stir stick or wooden spoon)

5. Explain rules (make your own...no headshots should be one of your rules)

6. Pass out water shooters

7. Blow the whistle to start play

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FOOD

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A perfect night for fruity snow cones,  popsicles  or Kool-Aid

 

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BE PREPARED

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Have several different games in mind in case the kids get bored. 

Suggestions:

• Boys VS Girls

• Team Competition

• Line the kids up side by side and have them all shoot their shooters at the same time to see how far they can shoot...perfect picture opportunity

• Pool noodle battles - I always cut pool noodles in half and let the kids battle each other (no headshots)

• Take along some solo cups and set them up (upside down) for the kids to knock over with their water shooters...team competition, etc. 

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Any time the kids seem to have too much time on their hands...throw in a competition and then go back to playing!

 

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PICS

Take Pics, Take Pics, Take Pics!

Take short video clips, take short video clips, take short video clips!

If you have extra help, assign the picture-taking duties to someone else!

CANDID SHOTS ARE GREAT!!!

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Extra Help

This activity is very, very, very easy to do. Very little setup and very little clean up.

When the event is over, just have the kids toss their shooters into one of the empty 5-gallon buckets, roll up your hose, toss any trash and you're done.

 

Make sure you have some extra help on hand.

This is a great event to ask your youth boys to help with!