Each family has its own way of enjoying the pool - from a brisk early morning swim to a relaxing read by the pool at the end of the day. With dozens of water games and related games there are so many ways to have fun in your pool. Try the following family friendly ideas or create your own unique games for a super time in the pool!

Swimming Contests
Sure, you can have a simple swim race or relay race in your pool – but there’s lots of other ways to “race” too. Use rubber rafts, ping-pong balls, plastic cups and other floating pool-safe objects to swim, push or blow across the pool. Have a special treat ready for the winner!

Watermelon Water Polo
Here’s a new twist on a classic water game. Rub one big, very round watermelon with vegetable shortening. Teams of three or four push the watermelon back and forth across the pool to score points when the melon crosses the opposing team’s goal line. The final trick is to get the watermelon out of the water for a refreshing post-game treat.

Treasure Hunt
You can do lots of different variations with this game. Use a variety of coins or other pool-safe objects that you toss into the pool. After the items have settled, each swimmer can try, one-by-one, to gather as many as they can in one breath. The object of the game can be determined many ways: find the most coins, the highest dollar value, the most of one kind, etc. Or for a twist, attach secret numbers or pictures to the items to determine a winner.

Backyard Fishing
Have a fishing expedition – right in your own back yard. Make fish out of plywood and paint them with waterproof enamel. Attach a magnet to them and throw them in the pool. Rig some rods with magnets instead of hooks and start fishing. Have a contest for who can catch the most or biggest fish, or paint numbers on the fish for prizes. Wrap up your expedition with a real fish fry!

PING-PONG for Points
Put numbers on a basketful of Ping-Pong balls and dump them in the center of the pool. Divide up participants into two teams and line up in the water on either side of the pool. At the signal, both teams rush to collect as many Ping-Pong balls as possible and carry them back to a container on their side of the pool. Each team player may collect only one ball at a time. When all the balls have been collected, add up the numbers on the balls, and the team with the highest score wins.

Swimming & Water Aerobics		Party by the Pool