7 Swimming Pool Games For Kids

Courtesy of AnneCN

What’s better than gathering up all your friends and family and hosting a giant pool party in your backyard? Nothing. That’s the short answer.

However, to enhance that experience, why not gather the gang in the pool and have some good old fashion fun by playing some classic swimming pool games?

Here, we’ve put together (what we think) is the best list of 7 classic swimming pool games for kids and adults alike.

Marco Polo

What You’ll Need:
- A swimming pool
- 3 or more players

How To Play

Not only is Marco Polo one of the most classic swimming pool games around, it’s also really easy to play.

First, designate someone as “it.” You can use rock, paper, scissors or eenie, meanie, miney, moe (I assume that’s how you spell it).

The person who is “it” will need to keep their eyes closed and swim around the pool. Their job is to tag someone, making them “it”. The way to do this is to say the word, “Marco.” By saying this word, all the other players must respond out loud by saying, “Polo.” This will help the “it” person to find you.

The object of the game is to not be tagged “it.”

Marco Polo Video

Sharks and Minnows

What You’ll Need:
- A large swimming pool (with a deep end)
- 3 or more players

How To Play

To start the game, choose one person as the shark. You can use the same tactics we discussed in Marco Polo for choosing who is, “it.”

The shark should be located at one end of the pool while the other players (the minnows) are outside the pool on the deck on the opposite end.

The shark must say out loud “Sharks and Minnows, one two three, fishies, fishies swim to me!” (you can say pretty much anything you want here). At this point, the minnows jump into the pool and swim to the other side trying to avoid being tagged by the shark before touching the wall.

The very first person to be successfully tagged by the shark, automatically becomes an additional shark and the shark in the next round.

Now, there are two sharks and the cycle starts again.

If the some of the minnows refuse to enter the pool, the shark may swim to the other wall and tag it, whoever was still out of the pool when the shark tags the wall becomes a shark.

In order to finish the round, all the minnows must be tagged. Then for the next round, the person who was first tagged becomes the shark.

Categories

What You’ll Need:
- A swimming pool
- 2 or more players

How To Play

Choose one person as the leader. Again, you can use the same tactics described in Marco Polo. The leader is at one end of the pool, touching the wall, and the other players are at the other end of the pool also touching the wall.

The leader then chooses a category such as: cars, board games, colors, etc. Each player must come up with one item that fits in that category. When everyone has an answer, the leader must start trying to guess the items in that category.

If the leader calls out an item that another player has, they must race across the pool to the opposite side. If the leader wins, they remain the leader. If the other player wins, they now become the leader.

Dolphins

What You’ll Need:
- A swimming pool
- 2 or more players

How To Play

This is a simple and fun way to have a race. Although, in order to have a race, you must have at least 4 players.

Break up into teams of two. One person will be the “arms” and one person will be the “legs.” The person who is the “legs” must grab the waste of the person who will be the “arms.”

The object is to swim across the pool together only using the body part you are designated. The “arms” person must only swim with their arms and the “legs” parson must only swim with their legs. Think of it as the swimming version of the wheel barrow.

Fist Out Of Water

What You’ll Need:
- A swimming pool
- 2 or more players

How To Play

The object of the game is to catch a player that has left the water and claim, “FISH OUT OF WATER!!!”

Choose one person as the “searcher.” That person can move about the pool wherever they want, but they must keep their eyes closed. However, the “searcher” CAN open their eyes underwater.

If the searcher catches you out of the pool and yells, “fish out of water,” you are automatically the “searcher” for the next round.

This game is just for fun. There are no winners.

Cannonball Pool Jump

What You’ll Need:
- A large swimming pool (above ground pools must have decks)
- 2 or more players

How To Play

The game is simple and it’s also a classic. The object of the game is to make the biggest splash. The size of the splash can be judged by other players or people just hanging out in the backyard. That’s it!

How To Do A CannonBall

Whirlpool

What You’ll Need:
- A round swimming pool

How To Play

I must admit, this was one of my favorite activities to do in a swimming pool when I was a kid. I’ll also admit that it’s not really a “game,” but more like just something fun to do. It also works better with more people.

Everyone must move to the edge of the pool and start walking along the pool wall. If everyone does this the water will start spinning. The faster you push through the water, the faster you will stir it. After a while you’ll be able to lift your feet off the ground and let the current take you around the pool.

I know it sounds kinda lame, but it’s actually really fun. So don’t knock it until you try it.

In Conclusion

Even though swimming pool games are fun, I just want to point out that it’s important to practice pool safety when playing these games. You should always be safe in your swimming pool.

With that said, I invite our readers and first time visitors to share with us some of their favorite pool games in the comments section below. And as always…

HAPPY SWIMMING!