How to Play Water Balloon Baseball
With water balloons instead of baseballs you better be prepared to get wet. The wetter you get, the more your team advances around the bases! No matter how many runs are scored, everyone’s a winner in this “beat the heat” game.
- Four hula-hoops or other markers for bases
- Buckets of pre-made water balloons
- Wiffle ball bat (the fat kind or the regular kind)
- Paper and pen for scorekeeping
1. You will need an ample supply of water balloons for this game. You can fill them ahead of time and store them in a cool place for up to about a week without losing too many to breakage. We store them in 5 gallon buckets, usually about 50 balloons per bucket.
2. Set up your field like a regular baseball field, using hula hoops for the bases. If you opt to use something else for your bases, just make sure to use something that won’t get wet and slippery for home plate.
3. Line your group/team up. Keep your teams small (no more than 7 to 10 per team). Only one “team” should play at a time.
4. Place a bucket of water balloons on the pitcher’s mound. Designate an adult pitcher.
The object of the game is to hit all the water balloons pitched. Each balloon that pops is worth a base. Players advance around the bases according to the number of balloons they burst.
1. Line up your players in order.
2. Players get three water balloons apiece. The pitcher should toss them underhand to each player in turn. The player scores one base for each balloon that they hit with the bat. If a player bursts all three balloons in a row, they get a home run.
3. Should a player slightly hit a balloon, but not burst it, that is considered a “foul tip” and they get another balloon. However, once a foul tip has happened, the player is no longer eligible to bat a home run. He or she can get a triple (three bases), but to get a home run the player must solidly hit their three water balloons one after the other.
4. Play continues with each team member taking their turn and advancing through the bases as in normal baseball.
5. Have a scorekeeper keep a tally of the runs earned.
6. Play until you run out of water balloons, or for a designated number of “innings.”
Additional Rules
1. If a wild or bad pitch is thrown (this should be determined by the adults, not the players)
a new balloon will be thrown. This does not count as a “foul tip,” so the player is still eligible for a home run.
If you have more than one team, you can play one of two ways:
Version #1: have the first team rotate through their entire team twice, and keep track of their score - then release them to some other activity while the next team bats. Compare scores.
Version #2: flip-flop teams as in normal baseball. One team bats all the way through, then send them off to do another activity while the second team bats. Keep playing for as many “innings” as you like.
1. Make sure you have lots of water balloons.
2. Make sure the water balloons are filled to a good size. Underfilled water balloons tend not to pop.
3. Make sure to protect water balloons from little hands or you’ll end up with a water balloon fight faster than you can say “splash zone!”
4. Make sure players stand back from batters so no one gets hit. Players tend to creep up in an effort to get wet!
5. Make sure you have a designated umpire to determine “foul tips,” “wild pitches,” and bases.
6. Strikes are strikes; if you miss, you are down that balloon, unless it’s determined it’s a “wild” pitch.
7. With younger or more inexperienced players, you may want to loosen up on the “three balloons only” rule. It’s nice for everyone to get at least one base.