Kids love water balloons. There’s just something about them that are simply irresistible. We’ve tried all kinds of water balloons over the years. From the old school water balloons you stretch over the faucet / spigot to the kind where you can fill a bunch of them up at once. What did those all have in common? They made a mess and created a lot of waste.
Picking up the little pieces of rubber is a pain, and I’m never really sure we got all the rubber. We live in a major watershed of an already-fragile ecosystem, the last thing I want to be doing is introducing more waste into the streams, river, and bay that my street gutters feed into. Amidst these concerns, my wife discovered the SOPPYCID Reusable Water Balloons.
The way these reusable water balloons work is that each contains two halves of rubbery, translucent sphere. Each half is rimmed with a harder plastic with magnets around the rim. The two halves are connected by a strip of rubber that keeps the halves together – much like an Easter egg. To fill the balloons, you need to open the halves and submerge them under water such as in a bucket, bowl, or baby pool. Close the halves while still submerged and you have a full water balloon. You can then throw the balloons to pop them, or as my youngest daughter likes to do – squeeze them until they pop.
Honestly, it’s so simple it’s amazing. I can’t believe these haven’t been around for longer. Maybe they have, but I only started seeing them and hearing other parents talking about them this year. They seem to be all the rage in our area. I would definitely consider these a trending toy for 2023.
When my wife first ordered these, I was skeptical that they would hold up. Assuming the worst of Amazon products, I was expecting these to very quickly get wrecked by our three kids. Boy was I wrong – these balloons are tough and durable! Our kids have not been gentle to these, and these have been smashed again and again on our driveway and have held up. I assumed that the strip of rubber connecting the halves would be the weak point, but all of ours have held up thus far. We’ve been playing with them for over a month and they are going strong. I can update this article if our durability experience changes, but so far I am impressed.
My first thought when trying these out too was that they would hurt when you get hit with them, because they feel hefty when full. And they have a plastic rim that could add to any damage. But I can confirm that my 7 and 5 year old have chucked these numerous times at my 1 year old and she has not come out of those experiences crying. Maybe she’s third-child tough, or maybe they don’t really hurt that much.
We often use these by setting up a sprinkler, whereby some of the sprinkler streams slowly fill a bucket or bowl, This creates a self-sustaining play system where the kids can play in the sprinkler and also fill their own water balloons in the bucket / bowl. This means more down time for you. Sit down in that lawn chair and relax or weed that garden while your kids play. You deserve it. Young kids can’t fill and tie their own traditional water balloons, but they can fill these no problem!
My only gripe about these is that they don’t seem to be fully recyclable once they wear out. I can’t find any information to confirm my suspicion that these aren’t recyclable, but the product definitely does not say they are recyclable and I’d assume the rubbery material is not. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong though! To truly be sustainable, it would be best if these could be made of a fully recyclable material. I’m not trying to claim that’s any easy task, but it feels like the reusable nature of these loses its significance when you just have to trash them after they wear out. But I suppose using these is still an improvement over hundreds and hundreds (maybe thousands!) of traditional rubber water balloons.
Pros
- Less waste than traditional water balloons
- Easy to use
- Durable
Cons
- Not fully recyclable
Rating: 4.5 / 5
We’ve tried all kinds of water balloon products over the years, from traditional water balloons to those quick-fill Zuru Bunch O Balloons (which are ridiculously expensive by the way). But nothing has come close to being as easy to use, sustainable, and fun as the SOPPYCID Reusable Water Balloons. These take the hassle out of water balloons – the filling and the cleanup afterwards. Make water balloons fun again, and get yourself a set of SOPPYCID Reusable Water Balloons. My only complaint is these not being recyclable. But they’re still more sustainable than single-use water balloons. They are a bit of an investment up front, but if they last you a few years they’ve paid for themselves compared to other water balloon products out there,
What is your experience with these reusable water balloons? Have you experienced any durability issues yet? Please share in the comments below!
Dad Likes Gear 
Very timely post! ive been seeing ads for these toys and have been considering them, especially after my sister-in-law accidentally bought (on clearance) rotten egg scented water ballons for our kids to enjoy at our fathers day cookout. I was chosen to fill them for all the children. It was so fowl smelling I nearly lost my lunch. The kids didnt seem to care much but I didnt fill the second batch. Not having the hassle of refilling more balloons just for them to be gone in a minute or not even busting on impact would be wins in my mind. Enjoy the summer!
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They’re great, but I have to update this a bit – we had one of them pop open on the soft rubbery part. To be fair, we weren’t using them as intended – my daughter popped it by hand which is probably not recommended.
Rotten egg scented water balloons? What is wrong with people haha!! Sounds about as bad as the time my wife ordered poop scented silly putty for the kids.
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