DIY Water Balloon Station

This is a project we shared over at Fun, Cheap, or Free.com  a couple weeks ago (See HERE).  While summer is winding down, there is still time to soak up some sweet summer fun-so we are sharing this awesome water balloon solution here too.  One of our kids favorites is playing with water balloons.  Typically, playing with water balloons means lots of time for mom filling and tying; resulting in cold, sore fingers and a big bowl of colorful water bombs.  Then the kids show up, throw the water balloons at everything in sight and it’s over in about 3 minutes flat.  We had to find a better way!  Introducing…………our DIY Water Balloon Station & Pump:

Last year, we came up with the Water Balloon Pump (check it out HERE.)  We took empty pump dispensers (from shampoo, conditioner, hand sanitizer, and bubble bath), rinsed them and filled them with water.  They work perfectly as water balloon pumps!  The kids can fill the balloons themselves and they love it!  

We have now taken it one step further with a whole water balloon station!  The kids can fill AND tie their own balloons!  

Are you in?  Ready for some water fights?  This is a simple project but does require using a couple power tools.  Nothing you can’t handle! 🙂

Here’s what you need:

• 2 boards (about 6″ by 12″-ours were scraps from the garage.)
• 3/4 PVC pipe
• wood glue
• drill
• jig saw
• 2 screws
• paint (optional)

First, use a jigsaw to cut about 2 inches into the PVC pipe-right down the middle.

Next, turn the pipe and cut half way into it,  just to the existing cut.  

Then cut the PVC piece to about 4 inches long, total.  It will look like this: 

If it’s pretty rough looking (like ours)  use some sand paper to smooth it down a bit.

Next, use a 3/4 inch drill bit to drill 2 holes for the PVC piece to fit in.  You’ll have to wiggle the drill around a little to get the hole big enough to fit the PVC.  

Use wood glue to attach the PVC pieces into the holes.  Also use wood glue in addition to screws to attach the wood pieces together.  (We used an extra piece of wood here to help stabilize while we drilled in the screws.)

The two pieces will end up like this:                   Last, give it a quick coat of paint if you’d like and let the fun begin!  

Now let’s see how this thing works!

Step 1:  Fill the balloon.

Step 2:  Wrap the balloon around the PVC.

Step 3:  Tuck the end under and pull through.  Because it can be confusing explaining this kind of thing, we made a 20 second video to demonstrate how to use the tying jig.  The first set of hands are mine, the second are my 11 year old daughters.

This thing is so easy to use!  Our 6 year olds can even fill and tie balloons using this little station.  They played with it for hours!  Gone are the days of cold, sore fingers and 3 minute water fights!  We will be using this thing all summer long: at home, at friends, and even camping.  It’s a perfect addition to a killer summer party!

Linking up to some of these parties: