Are reusable water balloons actually worth it?

Worth it, if you're done tying knots
around $25price at time of review — check Amazon for current
- Worth it ifYou run more than one water fight a season and refilling speed actually matters
- Skip it ifYou want the classic pop-and-splatter feel of a real balloon
Amazon shoppers rate it 4.7 out of 5 across 3,302 ratings. That is their number, not ours.
By Maya Bennett, kitchen & home · updated 2026-07-29
As an Amazon Associate, Is It Worth It Reviews earns from qualifying purchases. It costs you nothing extra, and it has never changed a verdict.
You know the walk you do after a water balloon fight, head down, scanning the grass for shredded bits of rubber before someone's dog finds them or someone's bare foot does. That's the part nobody mentions when they hand you a bag of balloons: the fight lasts ten minutes, the cleanup takes twenty. It's enough to make you wonder if there's a version of this that skips the mess entirely.
Here's the bit the listing buries: these aren't balloons at all, they're two silicone halves held shut by a hidden magnet. That one design choice changes everything about how you use them. Instead of stretching a balloon neck over a tap and tying it off with wet fingers, you just crack the silicone shell open, dunk the whole thing in a bucket or pool, and the magnet pulls it shut the second you lift it out, sealed tight in under a second. No knot, no slow drip while you fumble the tie, no rubber snapping off in your hand. And because the shell is soft, reusable silicone instead of a single-use skin, it survives the actual throw and the actual impact, then goes back in the bucket for the next round. Twelve balloons refilled a dozen times over an afternoon covers what would otherwise be a hundred-plus disposable ones. The magnets themselves sit fully enclosed inside the silicone, no exposed metal a kid can pry out, which matters more here than the fun stuff because it's the one part of the design you're trusting with younger hands.
So you're not really buying water balloons, you're buying an exit from the tying-and-popping cycle that makes balloon fights more chore than fun. The water is free, any hose gives you that. What you're paying for is the one second it takes to refill and the fact that nothing ends up in the grass afterward.
Worth it if
- You run more than one water fight a season and refilling speed actually matters
- You're tired of picking shredded rubber out of the grass afterward
- You want something that survives repeat throws instead of one pop
Skip it if
- You want the classic pop-and-splatter feel of a real balloon
- Your kids are young enough to still mouth small toys
- You only pull balloons out once a year for a single party
Not for households with a child still at the mouthing-everything stage, the sealed magnets are safe by design but the shell is still a small object.
If your kids ask for a water balloon fight more than once a summer, this is a quiet yes, it earns its spot in the pool bag. If you're set on the classic snap and splatter of a real balloon popping on contact, or your child still puts small things in their mouth, this isn't the shape of fun you're looking for.
Check price on Amazon · around $25 or Add it to your Amazon cart to sit on it
Before you go
Do the reusable water balloons really work?
Yes, the magnetic seal fills and closes in about a second, so the mechanism holds up, the only tradeoff is you lose the satisfying pop of a real balloon.
How long do reusable water balloons last?
They're built from silicone meant for repeated use, rated for over a thousand fills, so a set that survives a summer of daily play is doing what it's designed to do.
Full spec sheet
| Occasion | Summer Party |
|---|---|
| Included Components | Storage mesh bag |
| Brand Name | Smirodi |
| Item Weight | 8.8 ounces |
| Item Type Name | Water balloon |
| Model Number | RWB |
| Part Number | MDB-12 |
| Color | Multiple Colors |