Having a swimming pool in your backyard is great once summer comes along and it offers many amazing benefits such as having a great entertainment area for friends, staying healthy and in shape and having a place where you can spend some quality time with your family.
Above all else, it is perfect for children who are energetic, always active and who enjoy being outdoors. Hosting play dates, organizing birthday parties, or simply inviting a bunch of neighborhood youngsters to come swim and play can bring great joy to parents and children alike.
That being said, they also tend to get bored very easily and whether they are spending some time with friends or you are spending the afternoon together as a family, keeping them entertained might require some preparation, a bit of your creativity, and sometimes, props as well.
So, if you are wondering what are some interesting things you can do or are simply looking for some ideas to help you get started, here are some fun games anyone can enjoy.
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Hunting for Treasure
All you need are some coins or diving sticks that you can throw in so that they sink to the ground. Let the kids dive in and try to find and collect as many items as they can find. You can even make it a fun competition and declare a winner based on the number of things they have found or set a time limit to make it extra fun too.
If you truly want to make it a challenge, you can also use filled plastic bottles since they might be harder to find due to their clearness.
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Different Versions of Tag
While the youngsters can have an amazing time with regular Tag, some variations might be even better. For example, one person can stand in the middle while the others stand on one side. The goal is to try and get to the other side but not get caught by the child in the middle. Once someone loses they trade spots and the game starts again.
A slightly different version, known as the Octopus, entails the one who got caught to hold hands with the other and that continues happening until there is only one person left.
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Races with Props
Any pool toy can be included in the race from tubes and inflatables to loungers and the likes. Have the racers line up at one end with their toys and then see who manages to get to the other side the quickest. One important rule is that they have to be holding their props in front of them at all times.
Another one includes using balls, inflatable or not, and seeing who can get it across the fastest. Do not forget to mention that throwing is not allowed.
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H-O-R-S-E
On land, H-O-R-S-E is played on the basketball court in which an unlimited number of people can participate in. Basically, an individual shoots into the hoop from any position they want and if they manage to score, the next person has to do the same. If it is a miss, the next one gets to choose where to shoot from.
If you have a family pool and a basketball set specifically designed for it, you can do this in the water too, following the same rules. This website offers useful advice on everything you need to know about these types of swimming pools, as well as some fantastic features you could add to them.
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Ping Pong Craze
Ping pongs are easy to come by and they are not expensive either. You can buy a bunch of them, throw them in, and let them float and spread around for a few minutes. Turn this into a fun competition by instructing the kids to jump in and try to collect as many ping pongs as they can.
Once all of them are gone, count how many each youngster got and announce the winner. This is an easy, yet fun game that they will surely enjoy over and over again.
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Categories
Line up everybody on one end and name it the home base. Choose someone to be the chaser and have them stand on the other side with their back facing the others. The entire group chooses a topic after which the chaser starts listing different things that belong in that category.
To better explain the game, let’s take, for example, fruit. If someone’s fruit is announced, they have to try to get across as quietly as they can. If any sound is detected by the chaser, they have the right to turn around and try to tag the others as they are swimming.
Anyone who gets tagged is automatically out while the rest need to escape to safety and return to the home base. This continues until everyone is either out or has gotten to the other side without being detected.
Fun for the Whole Family
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Volleyball or Tossing
You can buy a net that can be used in water or you can simply tie a rope across to improvise and you can split into teams, especially parents vs. kids if you want to make it that more entertaining.
Form a circle and try to keep a beach ball in the air as long as possible without it hitting the water. You can also have one person stand in the middle to try and get it while the others toss it around.
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Chicken Fight
The parents can hoist their kids up on their shoulders and have them try to push each other off. Falling into the water is harmless and fun, but make sure to tell your children that chicken fighting should not be played anywhere else.
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Quick Jump Quiz
Have someone ask simple questions that others have to answer while jumping in but before hitting the water. This gets more entertaining as people start giving wrong answers to easy questions or as the person starts asking harder ones.
Conclusion
These activities can be extremely entertaining for youngsters, but they should always be done under constant adult supervision. And although this should go without saying, safety should always be the top priority, so make sure that there is always someone watching them while they are, hopefully, having fun.
