11 Best Pool Games for Entire Family

Posted On September 9, 2021

With the summer season finally arriving at our doorstep, you can’t help but think about summer activities. And the best way to spend this amazing time of the year is with friends and family. Whether it’s the beach or in a pool at home, we always have the perfect spot in mind to relax with our dearest.

And to make these activities even better and more enjoyable, we made a list of games to play while enjoying hot summer days in your pool. They’re fun for the entire family, and although you’re probably familiar with some of them, they won’t fail to amuse you. You’ll be surprised how entertaining they still are even now when you’re an adult. Your kids will definitely enjoy them.

Hide and Seek - Marko Polo

Everyone has played this one when they were kids. What makes this game even more interesting is the fact that you play it in a pool of course. Choose one to be “it” and spread out. The person that’s “it” should have closed eyes at all times. The goal is to find the other players and tag them. The player with closed eyes can should “Marco” and the other players respond with “Polo” in order to be found or give out their momentary location. Once the player tags someone, the person that’s being tagged switches places with him. The fun never stops with this game!

Treasure Hunt

This one is easy, pick an item and throw it behind your back into the pool. No one knows exactly where the items, or treasure, landed and that’s exactly what makes this game awesome. Whoever finds it first gets to throw it in the next round. This is a great game when your kids get bored in the pool. You can also add rewards in the form of sweets or fruits. The person who finds the treasure gets a reward and can choose to save it for afterward. It’s a win-win situation for any parent – the kids get to exercise and eat fruits while having fun in the pool.

Diving Call-Out

First, make sure to place a towel and eliminate any slippery surfaces around the pool itself. Now that safety measures are set up, you can play the game. The rules are fairly simple. One person dives in the most unique way they can, and call out a name. The person that’s being called-out needs to repeat the same move as accurately as he can. You can play in points by deducting when someone doesn’t make the same dive or by rewarding the winner. It’s quite entertaining and amusing to watch as well. You will need a judge and it’s best that the parent does this to ensure safety and regulation.

The Dolphin Races

Who can hold their breath the longest? Having a big pool has its advantages. You can play the dolphin races every day and enhance breath control and underwater swimming techniques with your kids. The goal? To swim across the pool in one breath. Two or more participants are required to play this game. Whoever reaches the end of the pool without reaching to the surface for the air along the run, wins. It’s great for teaching your kids how to control their breathing and eliminate any fear while swimming. You’ll be proud of your little ones after you see how much they’ve progressed after a couple of weeks playing this game.

Keep Away

Everyone knows this one. The only difference is that now you’ll be playing it in a pool. Take any smaller beach toy or ball that your little ones can hold with one hand, and spread out in the pool. First, you choose the person that will be “it”, then you make a circle around him. The rules are simple: toss the ball between you without letting the person that’s “it” to catch it or touch it. Everything is permitted except pouncing on the person that’s throwing. So jumping waving hands, etc. Once they touch the ball the last person that threw the ball switches places with him.

Pool Volleyball

This is without a doubt – pool games are the best way to bring the entire family together and have a blast during those hot summer days. And if your family members are a bit competitive, even better. Just like beach volleyball, pool volleyball is easy to set up. What you need are two things: one volleyball and a net. You can also improvise using any net that you can find and spread it across the pool while using two poles to stabilize it. The number of players depends on how big the pool actually is. The minimum is four. Set some ground rules and get something worth playing for to award the winning team. You can make the losing team do the dishes or whatever you don’t feel like doing.

Scavenge Run

Just like a treasure hunt, except that there a time limit for picking up the treasures from the bottom of the pool. Kids will all swimming pool games, but this one seems to be the all-time favorite. Take some plastic sticks or toy jewelry and place the players on the edge of the pool facing towards water. Participants must collect as much “treasure” as they can before the time runs out. Get your stopwatch and determine the time limit. On your mark, get set, go! The moment you blow the whistle or sound the starting point, the participants must dive collect as much as they can and surface. You can get plastic buckets for them to store the treasure to make things even more interesting. You can even spice things up with some water guns and make the treasure hunt even more competitive.

Magic Whirlpool

Pretty much all of the pool games for kids have rules to follow. All except this one. It’s not much of a game but an experiment. Creating a whirlpool in your own pool can be amusing both for you and your kids. How to make it? Stand in a circle and start walking in the same direction – clockwise or counterclockwise. Make sure that the circle is wide enough and before you know it, your running and walking creates a whirlpool that’s perfectly safe, but amazing to watch. This type of a water activity is great for keeping your kids in shape, and exercises in water are the best types of exercises.

Octopus Game

This is an easy one, but nevertheless quite engaging and will keep you playing for hours. It’s fun for the entire family. The rules are simple and quite similar to the “tag” game. One player gets to be the octopus while the others are its prey. The goal of the prey is to cross from one side of the pool to the other without being caught. The octopus will grow larger as with each person being tagged, the octopus expands. This is what makes it so interesting. At the start, it’s pretty easy to get away, but as the number of players playing as the octopus increases, you won’t think the same. You can develop your own strategy and use teamwork to either catch other players or to get away if you’re the prey.

The Icecream Game

The name of the game gets you thinking that there will be ice cream for the winner, which can be the case if you choose to but is not the point of the game. The goal is to stay away from the person that’s “it”. But there’s a catch. When the person being “it” touches you, you don’t lose but are forced to freeze at the spot. Other players can touch you and you’ll be able to swim again. You can only get caught when you’re on the surface. This means you can dive and escape every time you get too close to the person being “it”. The fun never stops and your kids will spend a lot of energy while playing it. So be ready and prepare some snacks!

The Raft Games

Having an inflatable raft or anything of the sort can be extremely fun. Especially if you play the raft games. The maximum number of players depends on the size of your pool, while the minimum is three. It’s the perfect way to lure your kids to play outside instead of playing with toys in their room the entire afternoon. Get players on their inflatable rafts and place floating items on the surface. The goal is to collect as many items as you can and return to the base. Players can try to push others to fall from their rafts. You can also add a timer to make things even more interesting.

There are numerous ways to have fun in the pool and playing games with your dearest definitely counts as one. Organizing and participating in these activities gathers the entire family, friends, and neighbors and lets you enjoy even more during those hot summer days. Be sure to bring your camera, or tell your kid to bring their camera, as these games are filled with moments that you’ll want to immortalize, share on your social media or keep for yourself.

Author: Catherine Evans

Catherine is a writer from Canada who simply loves toys, collectibles and superhero figurines. Writing is her passion, but she also loves reading, enjoying her “me time” and finding new ways to improve her work and ways to entertain the readers.

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