Description: Fill water guns and water balloons with tie-dye and let the battle begin. When the games are over, in addition to the fun, you have a new, original T-shirt!
Get Ready
- Prep Time: Begin advertising one month in advance of the event. Before the Aqua Wars day, you will need to spend about three hours getting supplies at the store (or ordering online). On the day of the event, plan two hours to fill the balloons and prepare the tie-dye.
- Volunteers Needed: Three to five volunteers are needed on the day of the Aqua Wars to help fill jugs and balloons, set up the outdoor area, and prepare the “after party” snacks. You might also want to designate one person to take photos or video, but you might want a waterproof camera!
- Supplies:
- Water balloons
- Water guns (try Walmart, Dollar Stores, or online ordering to save money). The more water they hold the better!
- Tie-dye (follow the directions on the box for mixing)
- Gun Refilling Station: Works best with a water jug or beverage dispenser that has a spout (like a five-gallon jug). Preferably something you do not mind using to hold tie-dye. Here is an example.
- White T-shirts. You can have people bring their own, or you can get inexpensive ones from a T-shirt company and have your groups logo, or “Aqua Wars 2014,” printed in black. Simple printing is not very expensive and will make a nicer looking “event shirt.” TIP: Remind the ladies to wear a swimsuit under their white shirt to avoid any embarrassment.
- Each person should bring his/her own towel to dry off after the fun. Remind people that their shorts, pants, shoes, towel, etc. run the risk of coming away with some tie-dye, too! So, wear old clothes/shoes — or ones you don’t mind with a little color added.
- Snacks! Any type you want, but be sure to have plenty of water (without tie-dye) to keep people hydrated!
- For Water Volleyball: Towels, a volleyball net, or poles and a rope.
- For Human Farkle: Something to use as a line marker, such as rope, spray paint, or cones.
- For Capture the Flag: Flags, or two bandanas to use as flags.
- Reserve the Space: This is an outdoor event. The best space to reserve (if needed) is a grassy field, but a parking lot will work as well.
- Ideal Group Size: Eight to 50, or more.
- Who is this for? All young adults.
- When is a good time for this? A warm day is best, above 70 degrees.
- Publicize the Program:
- Publicize the event on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or any other web or social media platform your group is using.
- Water balloon attack your pastor after mass, with permission of course! Or, do the same with the leader of your young adult or campus ministry.
- Use posters and bulletin announcements to spread the word.
- Personal invitations also work well for this event. Invite young adults to invite their friends.
Prayer for Program Planner: God of love and fun, you invented leisure time when you rested on the seventh day. Guide my time of planning so that I can accomplish your will for this event. Bless our fun in your creation; let it be a time of bonding, laughter, and grace!
Community Building: This event is simply a great time and a fun community builder. There is something magical about sunshine, water, tie-dye, and active fun that cause people to laugh and have a good time. While you are sharing a snack after the festivities, you could have each person share responses to any of these questions:
- Why did you come today?
- What was your favorite moment?
- What does this event have to say about what it means to be Catholic?
- How did you see or experience God during Aqua Wars?
Make It Happen
You have many options for this event. Do any or all of the below:
Water Balloon Volleyball (For groups of eight or more)
Supplies: towels (one for every two-person team), water balloons filled with tie-dye, volleyball net or two poles and a rope.
- Each side of the net has four, six, or eight people in teams of two.
- Each team of two has a towel (three or four teams of two on each side of the net).
- Choose one team of two to serve the balloon.
- Each person each holds the corners of their side of the towel. The serving team puts the balloon in the middle of the towel (like a hammock).
- Then, with the balloon hanging in the middle of the towel, both people pull the corners of the towel outward — FAST — so the towel snaps flat and the balloon is launched into the air. The idea is to aim the balloon over the net to the other side!
- On the other side of the net, the team of two that is closest to the balloon runs under the balloon and tries to catch it with their towel.
- If they catch the balloon, they serve it back. If they do not catch it, the other team gets a point.
- Repeat until one side of the net reaches 10 points.
Capture the Flag (For groups of 10 or more)
- This is played like any other capture the flag game. Each team has a “home base” with a flag that they defend, but the other team wants to capture that flag. The ultimate goal is to capture the other team’s flag and get it back to your home base.
- The Aqua Wars difference is that, instead of tagging people out when they come into your territory, you shoot them with water guns filled with tie-dye or hit them with tie-dye water balloons. If they are hit with water they are frozen for 60 seconds. While frozen they are free to be hit with more tie-dyed water but they cannot shoot back until the 60 seconds have passed. (The easiest way to time this is for the “frozen” person to count out loud to 60 so those shooting at them know when the time is up and they can run away! Or you can have a referee, but this can get confusing with a lot of people playing.)
Water Balloon Toss (any size group)
- Everyone chooses a partner (Person A and Person B). Each set of partners gets one balloon. Have the partners stand facing each other (one line of A and one line of B facing each other).
- Person A starts with the balloon and tosses it to person B.
- Then they each take a step back.
- Person B tosses the balloon to Person A.
- Repeat. Each turn they take a step back. If they drop the balloon, they are out.
- Continue until there is one team remaining.
Human Farkle (for groups of 20 and up)
This is a full body “Rock-Paper-Scissors” game, but it is “Ninja-Bear-Cowboy.” The ninja does a karate kick, the bear puts her hands in the air and roars, and the cowboy draws his guns and shoots. Cowboy shoots the bear, bear mauls the ninja and the ninja kicks the guns out of the cowboy’s hands.
- Set up the playing field: Mark a center line (use spray paint, rope, cones etc.). Decide where the “safe” area will be for each team. Imagine a basketball court. The centerline is the “action” line, but the area under the basket is the “safety zone” for each team. Now, decide how this will work best in your outdoor space.
- Divide your group into two teams.
- Each team decides together which of the three options they will ALL be.
- Then they come to the center of the playing field with each person holding a balloon filled with tie-dye.
- On the count of three, everyone does their Ninja, Cowboy, or Bear. The side that wins then tries to hit someone from the loosing team with their balloon.
- The loosing team runs for their “safety zone.”
- Anyone hit by a balloon before reaching the “safety zone” joins the other team.
- Repeat until everyone is on one team or people are ready to move on to another game.
Free For All (for any size group)
- Everyone simply soaks each other with guns and balloons and has a great time until all the tie-dye is gone! Have the balloons in the middle of the field of play and also have the gun-refilling-station close by!
Ideas
- Once you have experienced Aqua Wars, consider volunteering to put on a round of Aqua Wars for the parish youth group or a local Boys and Girls Club. It would also make a fun day at the parish Vacation Bible School!
- Alternatively, you can leave out the tie-dye and have an equally fun and refreshing event!
Help
- For Human Farkle, see this video to learn how to do the bear, ninja, and cowboy moves.
- A Water Balloon Volleyball example
