Kickball Slip and Slide: How To Set Up Slip and Slide Kickball
I just happened to see an old-school red kickball on Amazon the other day. That made me reminisce about the drunken summer kickball tournaments I used to play in during my mid 20’s. Now with kids, I wondered how I could recreate some of that fun (without the drunken part). Then I found some articles on setting up your own kickball slip and slide, a fun way to combine kickball with summer slip and slide fun. Perfect! Here we’ll cover how to set this up at your own home and link you to the items you need to make it happen.
Components to set up kickball slip and slide:
- BANZAI Grand Slam Baseball Water Slide
- Squirrel Products Backyard Blast Big Waterslide
- Intex Crystal Blue Inflatable Pool
- WAKA Official Kickball
- Dawn Dish Soap (Pack of 2)
What Is Slip and Slide Kickball?
Slip and slide kickball is a game of kickball that takes place using waterslides! If you’ve never played kickball, it works similarly to baseball.
In kickball, there are four bases in the shape of a diamond. The goal is to make it around all four bases and back to the beginning while the other team tries to stop them. You take turns, switching between the team trying to “run the bases” or the one trying to stop them. Just like baseball, each team gets 3 outs.
In slip and slide kickball, you use waterslides to move from base to base rather than running on dirt or grass. You connect waterslides to each “base.” In this case, the bases are kiddy pools filled with water. You can try to run while slipping around or try diving to the base, taking advantage of the slippery slide.
Slip and slide kickball is a great outdoor activity for the whole family! In addition, it’s pretty easy to set up your own game (we have a whole section and video below).
Products Needed for Slip and Slide Kickball
You don’t need many things to make this game work, just some waterslides, baby pools, a kickball, and some dish soap. Here are our recommendations for products to get you started:
1. Waterslides
The waterslides will be connecting your bases for your game of kickball.
BANZAI Grand Slam Baseball Water Slide
This waterslide gives you everything in one, with the slide already in the shape of a baseball diamond. The BANZAI is great if you want to buy less and get most of your supplies in one. The waterslide is intended for baseball, which is convenient since the setup for kickball is similar. This is a good setup for kids.
Squirrel Products Backyard Blast Big Waterslide
Choosing individual waterslides is ideal if you’re looking for a big game of kickball. The slide itself is 30 ft by 6 ft, giving you plenty of room to slide from base to base. You’ll need four waterslides so you can connect each of your bases. Each slide is made of heavy-duty material, so you’ll be able to reuse these for many summers.
2. Baby Pool
The baby pools will serve as your bases for the kickball game.
Intex Crystal Blue Inflatable Pool
This three-ring inflatable pool is a classic, making for a simple kiddy pool or, in this case, the perfect bases for slip and slide kickball. The pool is forty-five inches by ten inches, and you’ll need four as your kickball bases. Each baby pool holds about six and a half inches of water.
3. Kickball
The actual kickball is what makes the whole game, so getting the right one is important to make sure your game goes smoothly.
WAKA Official Kickball
This kickball is made of super sturdy and durable material so it can take kick after kick. As many reviewers commented, the key to making sure your kickball works correctly and lasts is to inflate it properly. This kickball should be inflated to one and a half pounds of air pressure, something you can check with an air pressure monitor (most people have one in their car to check their tires). As some reviewers commented, this kickball doubles as a perfect dodgeball, that’s a bonus!
4. Dish Soap
If you’ve never used a slip and slide, you may be wondering why dish soap is on this list. Dish soap gives waterslides the “slip” with just a bit of dish soap added to a waterslide helping everyone slide smoothly.
Dawn Dish Soap
Dawn is one of the most popular dish soaps and is inexpensive. But most any brand will do. In slip and slide kickball, you’ll need a bunch of dish soap to help make things slippery. This pack is a good buy since it comes in a value pack of two.
How To Set Up Slip and Slide Kickball
Watch this video for a visual how-to on setting up your slip and slide kickball:
Now let’s break down the steps:
- Inflate your kiddie pools and kickball. Follow the instructions on the packaging to ensure you inflate them properly.
- Set up your four water slides or plastic drop clothes in the shape of a diamond (if you chose the waterslide already in a diamond shape, skip this step).
- At each corner of your diamond, place one of your four baby pools. These will act as your bases. Make sure to decide which one will be your home base and let everyone know. With your waterslides, there will be some sort of stakes included. These stakes ensure that each waterslide stays in one place so follow the included directions and stake the waterslides into the ground.
- Using a hose, fill up each of the baby pools to your desired level. If you want to get crazy add some bubble bath to each pool as you fill it up.
- Use the hose to wet all of your waterslides and put some dish soap on them.
- Play ball!
How To Play Slip and Slide Kickball
Slip and slide kickball is very similar to regular kickball, with the added fun of some water and slippery slides. Here are the basic rules. The first step is to divide into two teams. Flip a coin or play rock-paper-scissors to decide who will be on offense and who will be on defense, to begin with. The offense will be the team kicking the ball while the defense will be the team trying to stop the kickers.
One player on the defense team will be chosen as the “pitcher” (the one who throws the ball to the kicker). Players on the offensive team will take turns being the kicker. The goal is for the offensive team to kick the ball and run through all bases as quickly as possible. The goal of the defensive team is to stop the other, by tagging someone with the ball (you can also allow the defense to throw the ball and hit the offensive player, but not above the head if you would like) the ball before they can make it to a base.
If kids are playing you may want to use a lighter ball. We use a Hedstrom rubber bouncy ball with our kids. They sell them by the eight pack on Amazon or you can usually pick one up at your local Target or Wal-Mart for less than $5.
What do you need for slip and slide kickball?
- Four individual slip and slides or one baseball diamond slip and slide
- Four baby pools
- Two bottles of dish soap
- A kickball
- Garden hoses
- A hammer
Kickball Team Names
- Pad PR
- Slim Kickins
- Kickball Revolution
- Alive and Kicking
- Grass Kickers
- Bad Decision Bears
- The Quick Kicks
- Natural Born Kickers
- The Grass Stains
- Matching T-shirts
- Recess All-Stars
- Chest Nuts
- Kicker With A Drinking Problem
- Gym Class Heroes
- RiKICKulous
Conclusion
Enjoy and be safe! This is one of the most fun games in the Spring and Summer but these are slippery surfaces. You may want to advise players to go half-speed at all times or at least until they get used to playing kickball slip and slide. Check out our other kid-related articles like football gloves for kids or mesh scrimmage jerseys.
Troy Wright
I am a lifetime basketball enthusiast and loved playing basketball competitively through high school. I still try and play at least 3 times a week and explore all kinds of equipment and training to keep myself on the court and continually getting better. I am a college basketball fanatic and move onto the NBA when March Madness ends.
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