Whether you're spraying it from a hose, wading around in it or drinking it with ice, water is the secret to a cooler summer. Just put on the bathing suits and break out the garden hose. The bonus: While you and your kids can have a great time creating a mess (anyone for a mud pie?), the cleanup process can be just as much fun.

BODY PAINTING

Have everyone put on his or her oldest bathing suit, then go out to the yard and get creative. Finger paints work wonderfully for large shapes on backs and arms; brushed-on, nontoxic tempera paints are fine for details; foaming bath paints provide funny accents. Kids can take turns drawing shapes on each other's back and then guess what was drawn. Draw a bull's-eye on a tummy and try to hit the target (and wash it off) with a water gun. Use sponges or leaves dipped in paint to try to make prints on shoulders and legs. After your kids have covered as much skin as possible, get out the hose and sponges, and scrub their "canvas" clean—but not before taking a few photos of the human masterpieces.

COLD CASH

The possibility of working outside on a hot day with hoses and buckets somehow turns even the most work-wary child into an eager entrepreneur. Load up your kids with buckets, sponges and soap. After they have washed their bikes, your car and the faithful family dog, encourage their entrepreneurial instincts. Have them put on a car wash for the neighborhood, or advertise a lawn-watering service for vacationing neighbors.

BACKYARD BUBBLEMANIA

For a real treat, fill your wading pool with bubble solution (6 cups of Joy or Dawn liquid dish-washing soap, 8 gallons of water and 1 cup of glycerin); let it sit for several hours, and then enjoy an afternoon of bubbles. With their hands and feet covered in solution (keep it out of eyes!), everyone stays cool and gets clean. The bonus here is that bubbles are less likely to burst on contact. For special shapes, dip in bubble pipes, cookie cutters, bubble wands and plastic bracelets. (For more about bubbles, go to Bubbleheaded Fun.)

MUD PIES

Supply your kids with garden trowels, pie pans, buckets, jars of water, and plastic knives and spoons. If you have saved soil from a gardening project, they can use it as their "flour." Otherwise, you can send the kids to a part of the yard you have been eyeing for a new flower bed and let them start the work for you (you might want to loosen the soil a bit first with a shovel). Now the children can get down and dirty—mixing the soil with water, stirring it with a stick and then pouring it into pie pans. Pie decorations might include dandelions, pebbles, shells or extra "batter" that can be shaped into special designs.