If you live in Australia, where Bluey lives, it’s about time to start taking sweaters and warm socks out of storage. Winter is coming to the Southern Hemisphere. But if you live in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s summer time, and that means tank tops, sunscreen, and, of course, lots of fun water games with your little ones. And since Bluey and her family like a good splash in the pool, ocean, creek, pond, and more, there are plenty of water games inspired by Bluey that can get you and your kids using your imagination, learning, and having fun this season.
We dug deep across the series’ three seasons and more than 150 episodes for some of our favorite water-based games from Bluey, from the silly to the STEAM-inspired to cover a wide range of moods and interests. Whether you want to jump in the pool or just splash about in the rain, we have some ideas that will elevate your child’s fun in the water.
Salad Spinner
“Trampoline” | Season 1, Episode 33
How To Play: Set a sprinkler under your trampoline and just start running around pretending to be leaves of lettuce. You’ll be surprised how long this can be entertaining.
In this episode, Bingo and Bluey keep trying to get their dad to stay home and play with them, but Bandit has to go to work. Still, softy that he is, he keeps getting pulled into their various trampoline games. Finally, on his way out, he informs her that she, too has an important job: to come up with new games. Soon she invents “salad spinner” which involves her putting a sprinkler under the trampoline and the running about pretending to be salad getting washed for dinner. It’s a simple game but loads of fun. (Even Chilli joins in the frolicking.)
Swim School
“Swim School” | Season 2, Episode 21
How To Play: Choose one family member to be the swim instructor, preferably a younger child, and everyone else pretends to be brothers and sisters. Hilarity will ensue.
Lounging by a pool in Bali doesn’t mean the Heelers are going to stop playing make-believe. While on vacation, the family decides to play “Swim School.” There are two classes, Little Fish and Big Fish and if you want to pass Little Fish you have to listen to the instructions of “Karen” the instructor (aka Bluey pretending to be a grown-up). When Bevin, Sharon, and Merifyndor (Bandit, Chilli, and Bingo) passes Little Fish they go to Margaret’s class (also Bluey pretending to be a grown-up) and she’s a much tougher (and sillier) instructor. Kids love a little bit of role reversal in their imaginative play. It’s not often they get to tell anyone what to do, so we imagine this will be a hit the next time the family heads to the pool.
Barky Boats
“Barky Boats” | Season 2, Episode 38
How To Play: Find small sticks, wood chips, or other naturally occurring, buoyant objects. These are your “boats.” Find a stream or fountain and place your “boats” in the water at the same time. Whoever reaches the end of the course (or designated endpoint) first wins.
While playing with their “buddies” (older kids who come to mentor the younger kids at Bluey’s school), we learn about a game that appears to be a staple of Glasshouse Primary School: Barky Boats. Taking strips of bark or wood chips found on the ground, two kids (in this case Bluey and her friend Mackenzie) race their boats down a little spout that ends in a pond. It’s a bit like “Pooh Sticks” for you Winnie the Pooh fans out there.
Building A Dam
“Rain” | Season 3, Episode 18
How To Play: When it’s raining, or you otherwise have a steady source of water, try to build a dam to block it from flowing away. Get creative with your materials? What works? What doesn’t? Figuring it all out is half the fun.
This beautiful, wordless episode is a great example of how play can lead to creativity and learning, even play as simple as splashing about in the rain. When a rare rainstorm rolls in over Brisbane, Bluey is having fun splashing around in it. But when she sees the downspouts of her house releasing a small river down her driveway, she gets the idea to create a dam to keep it from flowing away. She engineers a small dam to hold it back, but can’t do it all on her own until mom comes in to help.
Bug Inspector
“Slide” | Season 3, Episode 46
How To Play: Set up a water slide in your backyard. The first child down the slide is the “Bug Inspector” to make sure there are no insects or other crawly friends who need to be cleared from the plastic tarp — they’ll slide slowly and look carefully, moving any bugs that get in the way. (Feel free to call other friends to observe the bugs you find.) Once they call all clear another friend can use the slide normally. Kids take turns being the Bug Inspector.
In this episode of Bluey, Bingo and her bestie Lila are playing in the backyard. They’re excited about using the water slide Bandit has set up, but run into a problem when bugs start to move onto the slide. To solve this problem, they take turns patrolling for bugs and clearing them to safety. They seem to have just as much fun playing “Bug Inspector” as they do actually using the slide as intended. In the end, they’re visited by a caterpillar they spared, now in the form of a butterfly. (A very important butterfly, it turns out.)
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