Water ya up to this summer? Hope its going swimmingly. So long, spring showers…you will surely be “mist.” Ok, enough with the bad water puns. Time to have some real fun in one of our favorite family outdoor spaces: the pool!
Whether you have a modest pool or a contemporary backyard masterpiece, it is time to seize the moment and have the pool party that everyone will remember. Summer is in full swing, and do we have some fun pool games for you!
FOR THE KIDDOS
A traditional game like “Marco Polo” might be fun for some. Others are ready for something new to spice up their pool life. Just remember, no matter what the activity, kids in the water need a parent or adult to supervise!
BYOB (Bring Your Own Bottle):
Did you know that most plastics will sink once filled with water? Gather a bunch of small plastic bottles and remove the labels. Once complete, have the kids designate an area of your pool deck as their base where they throw the bottles into the pool backwards (no peeking). The player with the most bottles wins!
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Ice Cream Coin Dive:
This one will keep them occupied for a while! Start out by collecting an ice-cream bucket’s amount of coins and designating one as the “prize coin.” Then disperse the coins throughout your pool. Tell the kids that there will be ice cream for everyone who plays. The top prizes will be special ice cream sundaes, which will go to the one who gathers the most coins and the one who finds the prize coin. Watch as they scramble for the top prize!
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Ping Pong Ball Race:
This one will have everyone laughing. With everyone out of the pool, toss a bucket of ping pong balls into the pool. Be sure to spread them out. At the count of three everyone jumps in and tries to gather as many as they can, stuffing them into their suits and swimshirts or holding onto them how ever they can. The person who gathers the most wins. You can also have specially colored balls that count for extra points or get a special prize.
FOR THE BIG “KIDS”
Children are subconsciously drawn to pools like hummingbirds to honeysuckles, but who says pool games are just for the little ones?
Watermelon Ball:
You can either play this with a real watermelon or a specially weighted Watermelon Ball (which has less potential for cracking and getting messy). The game is basically like a combination of rugby, football and basketball played in the water. Watermelons are neutrally buoyant, which allows them to be passed underwater. Fabricated watermelon balls are engineered to create the same feel. To play, split into two teams and line each team on opposite sides of the pool. Flip to see which team gets the melon first. The goal is to get the melon onto the opposite deck to score a point. Opposing team gets to start with the melon on the next round. Set some ground rules regarding rough play (like no pulling off suits or holding someone underwater), but otherwise pass, steal, dribble, run, whatever it takes to make a goal. To add another level of difficulty, anchor inner-tubes to use as the goals for each team. To make the game even more tricky, you can coat the watermelon or ball with some petroleum jelly to make it harder to hold onto.
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Pool Pong (21+):
When it’s adult swim time, fetch a few of those ping pong balls from the race and play beer pong in the pool. There are lots of pool pong products on the market for this type of activity. Although, probably the most creative is called Battleship Beer Pong, which is sort of a cross between beer pong and the classic Battleship board game, complete with cup rafts that replicate the destroyer, submarine, battleship and aircraft carrier from the board game.
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