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    Home » Learning Activities

    Modified: Jun 10, 2025 · Published: Jul 24, 2013 by Vicky · This post may contain affiliate links · 3 Comments

    Water Balloon Phonics

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    This week, we’re diving into Alphabet and Phonics with a playful twist that’s perfect for summer! If you're looking for hands-on summer activities for kids, this one’s a hit. Get ready for Water Balloon Phonics—a creative way to help little learners practice letter sounds while getting outside and staying cool!

    Beat the heat with this water balloon phonics game

    You will need:

    • Water balloons
    • Permanent marker
    • Index cards
    • Tape
    Water balloons with word endings

    Kids love water balloons and since it's summer can there be a more fun way to learn? For this phonics activity, I filled 15 water balloons and wrote some word endings on them - at, an, ar, ug, in. I made 3 balloons for each ending.

    Then I wrote the following letters on index cards: F, H, C, J, P, B, and M. I taped those cards to the wall.

    cards with letters hung on fence

    I gave the kids the box of water balloons with the word endings. They would pick a balloon and bring it up to a letter to see if it made a word. If it did, they had to read the word and they got try and throw the balloon on the letter to pop it.

    child with water balloon

    In addition to being a fun phonics game, my kids had the opportunity to enjoy some gross motor play.

    water balloon toss

    Sometimes they really surprised me with their good aim!

    water balloon game

    Whenever they got a new balloon, they would go down the line of letters to see if they had a word. "Har is not a word, but car is!"

    phonics game with water balloons
    learning phonics with water balloons

    As we played, we kept a list of the words that we made. At the end we read and reviewed them.

    chalkboard with words on it

    If you are looking for a way to practice phonics that doesn't involve worksheets and you want to beat the heat as well, then you need to try water balloon phonics.

    phonics activity

    You'll make a splash with your kids!

    child throwing water balloon

    For more fun Alphabet and Phonics activities hop on over and visit my friends:

    Alphabet Phonics Activities for Kids from Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas Walk the Word Gross Motor Phonics Game from Coffee Cups and Crayons Learning Letters and Their Sounds from Mama Smiles Chalk Letters from Rainy Day Mum
    Active Alphabet Activities from Toddler Approved

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    Comments

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    1. Becky says

      July 01, 2014 at 12:59 pm

      What a fantastic idea! Just found this post on Pinterest. I'll be sharing on my Facebook page later today!

      Reply
    2. Lorie K says

      July 24, 2013 at 1:45 pm

      Love this idea! Pinning it.

      Reply
    3. Megan Sheakoski says

      July 24, 2013 at 1:24 pm

      Looks like a lot of fun Vicky!!! We did a gross motor one too! Such a fun way to learn!

      Reply
    Vicky from Mess for Less

    I'm Vicky, the founder of Mess For Less, which I started in 2011 to share easy, family-friendly recipes. With over a decade of experience as a home chef and recipe developer, I love creating meals that bring people together. I also design play and learning activities for kids, using my background as a former teacher with a Master’s degree in education. Learn more about me.

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