20 Best Pool Games to Play with the Kids this Summer!

Summer is in, and the heat is undeniable. What better way to cool off and enjoy the summer sun than by spending time in the pool? The crystal blue swimming pool helps relieve aching joints, and cool your overheated bodies. 

Everyone loves spending time in the pool, especially kids! For them, going to the pool is a fun way to play and swim around with friends and family. Not only is it a fun sport for both kids and adults, it’s also a good pastime to play pool games while beating the summer heat. 

Swimming can be more than just a sport. It can also be a hobby that your family can do during the summer. With the heat making us sweat like crazy, spending your time lapping on the cool waters or playing pool games will help cool off your body while spending quality time with family.

Kids love to play, and what better way to spend summer than to play pool games? There are tons of unique and simple pool games you could do to keep your kids’ attention during your pool time fun. 

Best Pool Games to Try

With the rays of the sun dehydrating our bodies, spending time in the pool is an enjoyable way to spend a hot day. While the cool crystal blue water quenches our aching muscles, the kids would definitely love spending their time swimming and playing games in the pool. 

Here are some fun pool games you could play with your kids!

Pool Joust

If you want a challenging and less harmful way of playing Chicken Fight, then Pool Joust is the game for you. It involves using a Joust set to get the other person to fall off the water. 

Swimline’s Log Flume Joust Set is kid-friendly, complete with two inflatable logs and two inflatable log boppers. The joust set can last up to hours without deflating itself. Kids would surely enjoy trying to joust with each other as they balance on the inflatable log, and hit the other person with the boppers. 

This game is best for five to nine year-old kids, but teens and adults can also play. Based on the reviews by customers, the joust set can accommodate an adult of up to 210 to 240 lbs. Teenage athletes also enjoyed the joust set, as they used it for pool parties and games.

To play the game, you simply have to get on board the inflatable logs, and keep your balance to avoid falling over. When the facilitator says go, the players should do their best to knock over the other. Whoever stays on the log, wins the game. You can have teams playing against each other to make it more fun. 

Underwater Treasure Hunt

Kids love treasure hunting! So, this Private Diving Set has loads of colorful treasures your kids would surely love collecting underwater. The Treasure Chest contains 28 items that consist of jewels, coins, bones, and underwater animals. Throw or scatter these items in the pool for the kids to find.

The plastic-made gems measure about one to two inches big, and don’t have holes to keep water from seeping inside. The set has a number of toys inside, which makes it good for more than seven kids to play.

Dive Rings

Another dive-and-retrieve game to play with is this Dive Ring set from the brand Aqua. It contains six colorful weighted dive rings, which are 6 inches in diameter. The material is soft and rubbery, so kids can throw it without hurting others.

This is a fun game to play with your children while teaching them how to dive. You could also make a fun competition out of it by seeing who could get the most amount of dive rings in a short span of time.

Squirtgun Fight

Kids love interactive games, and these water guns are the perfect tools to play with your kids. The game can improve teamwork, coordination, and communication between kids and adults.

These squirtguns for kids are lightweight and portable, and can shoot in a higher distance. You also won’t have to concern yourself with it leaking because it’s made of durable plastic. 

These water guns are perfect for kids aged three years old and above. The size is also perfect for their age despite needing to refill every chance they got. It’s also made of sturdy material and colorful backgrounds, which makes it pleasing to a kid’s eyes. 

Ring Toss

Blow up your summer with this flamingo ring toss! Prepare two teams with equal number of members. You can either have one member wear the flamingo on the head to catch the rings, or let the flamingo inflatable float a few feet away from the players.

The rest of the team shall take turns tossing the ring into the neck of the flamingo. The bigger the ring, the higher points the team gets. Whoever gets to have the most points in the given time shall win the game. 

This game would be a sure hit for your next pool party. Based on reviews, both kids and adults enjoy the game, the flamingos stayed inflated for a couple of hours, and the rings won’t cause physical injuries. 

Water Volleyball

Who says you can’t play volleyball in the pool, because you definitely can! With this Intex Pool Volleyball Game, you can set up your own volleyball court. The set comes with an inflatable volleyball, repair kit, and shelf box. 

You won’t need to worry about the sturdiness of the inflatable volleyball because it’s made of 10-gauge vinyl and 7-gauge vinyl ball. The volleyball is perfect for anyone aged above five years old since the height is 13 inches and 33 diameters. 

The ball that comes with it is the size of a volleyball but is light in weight, making it safe for children, too. You’d also like how affordable and easy it is to set up. Users recommend using an electric pump when blowing it up, and the weight pouches to be filled by rocks instead of rice or sand to avoid spillage if it obtains a hole.

Inflatable Hoops

If volleyball isn’t your thing, you can also play a game of pool basketball! The set includes an inflatable ball and a repair patch. Moms and kids love it because it’s sturdy and durable. This set can last up to months, and kids can also use it as a float to lean on when going to deeper areas of the pool. The inflatable ball is much like a beach ball, so if you want a heavier one, you may buy a different ball for the game. 

You could either have a hoops match, wherein you play one-on-one and see who shoots the most number of balls in a given time. You could also divide into teams, and play a pool version of volleyball where you swim instead of run.

Best Budget-Friendly Pool Games to Enjoy

Here we have listed tons of fun activities and games for you and your kids to participate in, without the need to buy anything else.

Marco Polo

Marco Polo is a fun pool game your kids can play with three or more people. Pick a person who would be Marco while the rest play Polos. The aim of the game is for Marco to find and tag a Polo without the sense of sight. 

Whenever the word “Marco” is uttered by the tagger, everyone must respond with “Polo” to help find the Polos. Whoever doesn’t respond when the tagger yells would automatically be the next tagger.

To make sure everyone is safe when playing this pool game, set an area where they can play. Make sure it is not in the deeper end of the pool. You can also include a rule where the Polos can’t go out of the pool. 

Marco Polo is truly an engaging and exciting game where you’ll hear the children squeal in delight, and laugh out loud when caught by the tagger.

Sharks and Minnows

Sharks and Minnows is a fast-paced pool version game of tag. This challenging, interactive game has been popular since the ‘50s. 

To start the game, choose one or two persons to play the Shark, who would stay at the center of the pool, while the rest are Minnows

When the Shark yells, “Fishy, fishy, cross my ocean,” the Minnows would jump into the pool, and make their way to the other end. When the Shark yells, “Shark attack,” the Minnows have to reach the other side of the pool without being tagged by the Shark. Whoever gets tagged would also become a Shark, and gets to attack other Minnows. The last remaining Minnow wins the game, and shall be the Shark on the next round. 

To ensure everyone is safe, try swimming and playing in the shallow part of the pool. You can create markings to know which area is the other side, and where the Minnows shall start swimming. There are also a lot of variations you can do, such as adding more Sharks to match the number of Minnows. 

Freeze Tag

Freeze Tag is a popular game played by kids and teens. Most of the time it involves more than one person, and a whole lot of excitement for the kids. Playing the game is fun when you get to tag and unfreeze your friends. 

To play the game, you must pick one to two people who would tag and freeze the players. Once a person gets tagged, they must freeze and wait for the others to unfreeze them. It would be challenging to freeze and unfreeze a player in the pool. So, you can time the game to make it more exciting and challenging. 

If the tagger freezes everyone, he or she wins the game. The last person to be frozen would be the new tagger for the next round. You may also set up new rules. For example, players must unfreeze the person by tapping the shoulder, or if a player gets frozen for the third time, they become the new tagger. 

Find the Coin

Find the Coin is an underwater scavenger game, where players have to find the tossed coin underwater. There are a lot of variations you could do with this game.

First is throwing a single coin in the vast pool, without the participants looking. The children have to look for it, and whoever finds it first, wins. You could have the kids look underwater with their goggles on or not, depending on how challenging you want it to be.

You can also throw multiple coins for the kids to find. You can determine the points either based on the coin value or depending on the number of coins collected. With this game variation, set an allotted time of two to three minutes for the kids to look for the coins.

Breath Holding Contest

A breath holding contest is one of the most common pool games you would inevitably do when you’re swimming. Form a wide circle, and have one facilitator stay in the middle. The facilitator shall time and signal the start of the game, and everyone has to hold off their breaths underwater. Whoever can hold their breath the longest, wins the game. 

Air Ball Relay

Kids love playing with balloons, whether they’re inside the house or outdoors. Well, who says you can’t have some balloon fun in the pool? 

With the Air Ball relay game, the aim is to keep the balloon floating in the air while swimming to the other end of the pool. Once the balloon touches the water, the player either has to go back to the starting line or gets a punishment. 

Swimming Pool Puzzle

Scatter sponges, with a drawing or a letter, across the pool. Have your kids pick the sponges, and help them arrange these into pictures or words. You can make it easier for them by color-coding the sponges. For example, red would be for a picture of an apple while yellow would be for a word. This game would help enhance your child’s vocabulary and imagery skills.

Floatie Race

For this game, you would need:

• A floatie for each team
• Plastic batons or sticks 
• Basket

This is another racing game where the kids have to race to the finish line using their floaties. To make it challenging, have the kids form into teams, with each member carrying a plastic baton representing their team colors. 

When the facilitator signals the start of the race, the first players shall swim to the other end of the pool, and place the plastic baton on their team’s basket. They shall swim back to their team, and hand the floatie to the second player. This goes on until the last player finishes the relay.

Ping Pong Madness

This game would test your kids’ agility and coordination skills. Place several colorful plastic balls in the pool, then place a few white ping pong balls among them. The aim of the game is for the kids to swim and hunt for those white ping pong balls. The kid who collects the most number of white ping pong balls, wins the game. 

Dolphin Push

This can either be a fine ice breaker for your pool parties or a good startup game during your family pool time! Line your kids up in a row, and give them each an inflatable dolphin. They have to push the dolphin to the other side of the pool using only their nose, chin and head; They can’t use their hands or feet. The first one to reach the end of the pool, wins the game. 

If you don’t have an inflatable dolphin, any inflatable animal or will do.

What’s the Time Mr. Shark?

This is another popular and well-known pool game. Assign one person who would be the shark. The shark must stand at the edge of the pool, while the other players stand on the opposite side. 

The players should form one row, and shout together, “What’s the time Mr. Shark,” to which the shark would respond a time. For example, if the shark says 4 o’clock, the players must take four steps forward. 

After the players have asked a few times, the shark can shout, “Dinner time!” before catching players. The first player to get caught would be the new shark for the next round. The one who never gets caught by the shark shall be the winner of the game. 

Silly Hats

Silly Hats is a game, which will require balance and patience from your kids. While laying on their backs with floaters on, place a small rubber duck on their forehead, and have them swim to the other side of the pool without letting the rubber duck fall on the water. If they fail to do so, they must start over. The player who gets the furthest distance wins the game.

Tug of War

Who says you can’t play tug of war in the water? Form two teams with at least six kids each, and line the teams on their respective sides. The team that gets pulled towards the marker loses the game.

Pool Games in the Summer

Whether you’re dipping in an inflatable pool or a real one, playing pool games is a really fun way to spend summer with the kids. For sure you’ll make their pool time even more fun by suggesting these pool game activities. They would surely enjoy each game, making you bond with them even more. 

Simple games are easy and memorable ways of bringing joy to your kids, and creating new memories. It’s not everyday they’re kids, so do enjoy every moment you have with them. Kids tend to grow easily, and their infectious laughter would soon turn to mature ones. So, make every bit of memory as you can with them.