Want to keep your kids occupied for hours outside on a hot day? Here are the best water guns for kids.

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There’s something about summertime that invokes nostalgia. Bring on the lemonade, fireflies, and water weaponry!

Water guns have come a long way since the trigger-leaking, certain-to-crack-in-a-day squirt guns of your youth.

Today’s water guns feature high-capacity water tanks and handle-powered designs for easy soaking. Many of them promise projectile ranges that cover the better part of a football field.

From blasters to launchers to soakers, check out which water guns will keep your kids wet and wild all summer long.

 

1. Stream Machine

This is our pick for the best water gun for kids (for the money).

This water launcher features a sleek, minimalist design and can squirt water up to 70 feet. Easy to use and highly versatile, pack a Water Sports Stream Machine to bring the fun wherever you go this summer— from the pool to the beach to the backyard.

To use, just submerge the barrel in water, pull back the handle to fill, aim at your target, and push the handle for an extreme stream of water! Then do it again with its quick reload time of 2-3 seconds!

These launchers are made of high-quality plastic and can easily last for multiple summers.

Stream Machine Video Review:

 

 

2. Nerf Super Soaker Soakzooka

This is our pick for best water gun for kids (regardless of cost).

The original water workhorse of the summer, a Nerf Super Soaker continues to please. Check out their recent Soakzooka version that can hold twice the amount of water as most other Super Soakers.

Its water tank holds 55 fluid ounces of water and promises an impressive soaking that will have the neighborhood kids lined up at your porch.

Save your trigger finger by just pushing the handle back and forth and fire away as your Soakzooka douses everyone in range!

Nerf Super Soaker Soakzooka Video Review:

 

 

3. Nerf Super Soaker SplashMouth

This is our pick for best cheap water gun for kids.

A Nerf Super Soaker also wins in the budget category. Meet the Splash Mouth Super Soaker, a high-quality gun that is an outstanding toy for its price.

It has a pump handle and features two modes for water fun—blast streams of water at your opponents, or dump all the water at once on an unsuspecting bystander!

This one has a 20-ounce tank along with a hatch that you open and dunks into a container of water to quickly fill the tank.

This model is just under $17, and Nerf Super Soakers continue to be some of the best water guns you can get for your money.

Nerf Super Soaker SplashMouth Video Review:

 

 

4. Heytech Water Blaster

This is our choice for best first water gun for young kids.

Little ones love to join the water fight too! But to avoid big tears and frustrations, young kids do best when provided a water gun that a) is easy to shoot and maneuver, b) does not require a parent to fill it for them every 20 seconds, and c) impresses the big kids with range and power.

The Heytech blaster delivers on all these features—along with being affordable and durable. Your youngest kids will grin in delight as their little hands easily power the handle back and forth to shoot water at their older siblings up to 30 feet away!

 

 

Questions and Answers

Are water guns dangerous?

When compared to horse-powered water toys that continuously consume precious (and expensive) h20, a swimming pool and its corresponding drowning hazards, and water projectiles that leave behind balloon shrapnel—water guns are among the safest and most resourceful water toys to add to your backyard arsenal.

Two big safety items to keep in mind are:

Eye protection—The streaming guns can be powerful and should not be used in close range to an opponent’s eyeballs.

Not a drinking vessel—Teach children to avoid drinking water from the gun. While the plastics used are non-toxic, they are not considered to be food-safe, and mold and bacteria can eventually build up in the toy and should not be consumed.

 

Are water guns illegal?

While the blanket term “illegal” may not directly apply to water guns, do check with your state legislature about what laws may be in place for toy guns in your area.

Recent state gun laws have seen everything from banning toy guns near schools to requiring that toy guns feature transparent plastic to avoid being mistaken for the real thing.

Make sure to keep in mind personal responsibility when engaging with water guns. Some people have their own justifiable reason to avoid gunplay of any kind, and that is a boundary we can teach our children to be aware of and respect.

 

What games can you play with water guns?

Knockdown Carnival Game

Stack lightweight objects (such as plastic cups) into the shape of a pyramid and give kids a water gun to see who can knock down the objects the quickest!

 

A Wet Orchestra

This one works great for a big group of kids! Tie various items along with a fence post or onto a clothesline and distribute a water gun to each child. Pick items that have a high potential for making noise: bells, small metal pots and lids, inflated pool toys, and spoons. Let them shoot the items to make a little backyard orchestra!

 

Water Gun Freeze Tag

Choose one kid to be “It” and provide them a water gun. Allow the other kids to play an area to run around, marked by boundaries. The child who is “It” works to blast the other kids with water. They have to “Freeze” if they get hit with water and the last kid standing, wins!

 

Bubble Targets

This game is sure to delight the youngest kids! Allow an older kid or parent to blow bubbles up into the air while providing the little ones with a water gun. Encourage them to shoot each bubble target with streams of water and delight in the summer fun together.

 

Beach Ball Race

Lure older kids into a fun competition by allowing players to win points by squirting a beach ball over their opponent’s goal line. Inflate a beach ball and designate two end zones. Each player gets a water gun and guards their end zone as they try to blast the ball across their opponent’s end zone line.

 

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