My son’s all time favorite activity we’ve ever done was our Angry Birds Water Balloon Game. Warm weather and a half day of school made yesterday the perfect day to get drenched in the front yard and do a little Learning After School. We did this with math but it would be as simple to make letters , shapes or sight words as targets. Here is what we did .
- Gather your materials. You will need some water balloons, a sharpie, some number targets , page protectors, bean bags, and hula hoops. You will also want a laundry type basket to carry the filled balloons.
- Start by making the targets.
I chose the numbers 7, 9 ,10 ,and 15. All the equations will equal one of these numbers. I used picmonkey.com to make simple images. Printed them out one per page and slid them into page protectors. 
- Fill your balloons . Carefully write equations that equal the numbers on the targets such as 3+4 or 15-5 . For younger children you could simply write numbers on the balloons and have them match them with the targets.
- Set up your targets.
I added bean bags inside the page protectors to weight them down. 
- Get ready.
- Go! Read the equations, find the answer on one of the targets and throw!
- They loved this. My son would read his sister’s equations and tell her where to throw it. I was seriously amazed at how accurate he was. I should have remembered that later when we filled up more to throw at each other. It was kids against Mom and the kids won.
- After the game – play more! We ended up using all the extra balloons and running through the sprinkler before retreating to the house.
Learning After School is our series of simple learning activities for families to do together after school. They are meant to be bite size and engaging . They aren’t meant to replace homework just add a little more learning without making your child feel like they doing any extra work.
Renae says
What a fun and fabulous idea! I am definitely going to use this as it’s getting warmer. Thanks so much for sharing!
Marianne Hopwood says
who says maths is boring!
pat says
what a great idea!! i will definitely try this!
Charlene says
This is a great idea. I think I could use it for our beach day. It would be fun and educational at the same time. Thanks.
Charlene/Diamond Mom
Joyce @Childhood Beckons says
I’m pretty sure math has never been more fun!
uzma says
thanks for the brilliant idea, i’m definitely going to try this with my kids 🙂
Fatima says
Really a fantastic idea. My kids love water play especially my son. I’ll save this idea for when it’s warmer. It’s winter here now.
Christina@TheresJustOneMommy says
Perfect!
I have been looking for some fun ways to work on math facts with the kids, and I know they are going to love this. Can’t wait to give it a try this weekend.