The Blast Zone Crocodile Isle is the dual-slide water park that families with multiple kids have been waiting for. Twenty-two feet wide, dual curved racing slides, a climbing wall, an oversized splash area, 600 lb weight capacity, and Blast Zone's commercial-grade construction throughout. If racing is what your family is about, this is the unit to buy.

The Blast Zone Pirate Bay is the best backyard water park you can buy at any price. Twenty feet of commercial-grade inflatable fun — bounce house, water slide, crawl tunnel, climbing wall, and two water cannons — built to Blast Zone's unmatched quality standards and backed by their two-year warranty. If you have the yard for it, just buy it. You will not regret it.

The B-Air Koala KP-1200 is the best residential bounce house blower you can buy for larger inflatables — 15x15 and up. It's compact, well-built, C-ETL certified, and backed by a one-year warranty from a manufacturer that's been making these for years. The caveats are real but manageable — keep it out of direct sunlight, use a proper gauge extension cord, and don't expect it to fully pressurize a large unit in unusually hot conditions without a break. For most families running a backyard bounce house or water park on a normal summer afternoon, this blower simply works.

If you're looking for an affordable, high-quality inflatable water slide for one or two kids then look no further than the Little Tikes Slam 'n Curve Slide. Simple, safe and fun, this is a water slide that will last your family years to come and provide a ton of memories along the way.

The Little Tikes Rocky Mountain River Race is a great starter water slide for families with young children. It is well-constructed, backed by a solid warranty and yet still very affordable. It won't support kids who are much older than 7 or 8 years old, so you'll definitely get more value out of it if you have younger children, but beyond that there aren't a whole lot of complaints that I have about this model. If you buy it somewhere like Amazon or Wal-Mart you'll have extra assurance that you will be satisfied with your purchase. With that said, I do think you'll be happy with it.

The Little Tikes Jump and Double Slide Bouncer is a high-quality, underrated bounce house that can serve as a great starter model for most families. It comes from a brand that you know and can trust, and will provide hours and years of fun and entertainment for your family.

The Blast Zone Spray N Splash 2 is the best entry point into Blast Zone's water park lineup — 20 feet long, commercial-grade slide and climbing surfaces, a clever inside-return path that keeps the play area clean, and the same two-year warranty that makes Blast Zone the most trusted name in residential inflatables. If the Pirate Bay is more than your yard or budget calls for, this is exactly where to start.

The Team Magnus Devilfish 31ft is the best slip and slide you can buy for a family that takes backyard fun seriously. Thirty-one feet of heavy-duty PVC, twin racing lanes, an inflatable crash pad, and a two-year warranty put it in a completely different class from the roll-out-on-the-grass alternatives. A few setup caveats worth knowing about, but nothing that should stop you from buying it.

The BOUNTECH 9 in 1 Inflatable Water Slide packs a slide, splash pool, ball pit, basketball hoop, climbing wall, and more into one wet/dry combo unit. It's a genuinely good value for the price, with a 400 lb weight capacity that's higher than most units in this category, but the budget-tier construction and lack of a real brand warranty mean you should go in with realistic expectations about longevity.

There is no simpler formula for a perfect summer afternoon than a long strip of wet plastic, a running start, and a yard full of kids. Slip and slides have been doing exactly that since Wham-O introduced the original in 1961, and more than six decades later the category has exploded into a legitimate market with options ranging from a basic $20 lawn slide to a 75-foot commercial-grade monster that takes over your entire backyard.

I've been writing about backyard inflatables for years, and the slip and slide category is one where the buying decision is deceptively tricky. Size matters enormously — but so does material thickness, sprinkler design, crash pad quality, and whether the staking system is going to rip your slide on day one. I've sorted through all of it so you don't have to.

Here are the best backyard slip and slides for every age, yard size, and budget: