Hungry Hungry Hippos Splash Turns a Nostalgic Game into a Water Sprinkler for Summer

There are three species of hippopotamus in the world: the common river hippo, the pygmy hippo, and the Hungry Hungry Hippo. You probably remember the feel-good Hasbro game featuring colorful hippos that chomp marbles. WowWee is adding a summery twist to the nostalgic toy by turning it into a water sprinkler game for a backyard blast, called Hungry Hungry Hippos Splash.

Families are going to need a hose on hand to hook up to the sprinkler unit, creating several jets of water that will stream upward. The sprinkler features an orange and a purple hippo that will rotate in a circle. Since there are two hippos, the game is designed for two players, who will toss the “snacks” as fast as they can at the same time into their designated hippo’s open mouth. Each player gets three snacks, which look and feel like pingpong balls, but a little bit softer. If one of the balls falls out of the hippo’s mouth, players can pick it up and toss it again. The first player to get all three snacks in the hippo’s mouth at once is the winner.

While this may sound easy to us adults, the game is designed for kids ages 4 and up, so it will be fun for preschoolers and grade schoolers to test their coordination as they try to toss the snacks into their hippo’s mouth while the unit spins and sprays water all at the same time. Kids can fully open the hippo mouths for easy mode or only open them halfway for hard mode. Each hippo mouth is adjustable, so if you have kids of different ages playing together, they can decide how much of a challenge they want. Players can toss the snacks from further back to practice their aim or get up close to make it easier. The closer they get, the more they will get sprayed, which is part of the fun.

You don’t have to make it a competition, either: Kids can also play individually to test their throwing skills or come up with their own water games using the sprinkler. Players can use their imaginations to add their own rules to the game. If you have more than two kids that want to play, someone can run back and forth trying to intercept the flying snacks midair, kind of like monkey in the middle. This will make it a little more challenging for older kids. Or maybe the goal is to just cool off in the sprinkler without playing the game at all, and that’s just as fun! There’s really no limit to how you can play with this water toy.

Whatever way they decide to play, kids will have a blast getting splashed with these hip hippos all summer long!