As the weather heats up, you’ll want to heat up your chicken and cool down the backyard. A great way to increase the fiery heat of your BBQ chicken is by injecting the flavour directly into the meat. To get the most flavour, you’ll want to slather your chicken in a vinegar-based BBQ sauce, BBQ Brian suggests House of Q’s Rock’n Red. You’ll want to use House of Q’s Cajun Grilled Chicken recipe to create this spicy chicken perfection.
While you’re turning up the heat in your mouth, you’ll want to cool down on the outside. BBQ Brian has picked out five summer backyard activities that are fun for kids of all ages that are sure to cool you and your BBQ guests down.
Backyard Water Activities
Ice Block Treasure Hunt
Keep the younger kids entertained for hours while you’re barbecuing with this simple treasure hunt. Find a bunch of your kids’ inexpensive toys (think small action figures, bouncy balls, plastic figurines) toss them in a large container and add water. It works best if you’re able to spread this out over a few days, adding a layer and freezing it each day (prevents all the toys congregating at the bottom). Take the container out of the freezer when it’s treasure hunt day and pour hot water over the container. The ice block should pop out. To help the kids get their treasures out, you’ll need:
- A bowl of warm water
- Salt in a shaker
- Turkey basters
- Small pate spreaders
- Tweezers
Water Balloon Piñatas
Fill up a bunch of water balloons and hoist them up all around the backyard on a rope tied between two trees or poles. Get the kids a bat or a stick and watch the fun ensue!
Water Arms Race
This activity requires:
- 4 poles or trees
- 2 long pieces of string or rope
- 2 Light plastic buckets
Tie each string, with a bucket handle looped through it, between two of the poles, similar to how a zipline is set up. The two teams will face off against each other in a head to head battle. They’ll have to move the bucket from one end of the string to the other by only using their water guns. For maximum wetness and laughter be sure to have teams start at opposite ends.
Water Balloon Dodgeball
Put a cool spin on this classic game to beat the heat on a summer’s day. By the time there’s a winner, everyone is sure to be drenched!
Water Gun Fight
When all else fails, there’s nothing like a good old fashioned water gun fight to help you cool off. Fill up a bunch of water balloons and place them in piles around the yard, and stock up on water guns. Then, break off into two teams and have at ‘er!
By the time you eat, you’ll need the spice from House of Q’s Rock’n Red BBQ sauce and the Cajun injection to warm up!