Create Fun Games Using a Beach Ball
Having a private pool available on holiday is a luxury, and means a whole new world of water games are accessible. A new favorite uses small beach balls. These are available cheaply in most sports shops and from websites such as Splash About, and because they float they can be collected in the same way as sinking items for children who don’t want to reach the bottom of the pool. If there are a large number of children, try a variation where each child’s name or a symbol is written onto the balls in permanent marker before they are all released into the water. Each child has to retrieve their own balls and place them in a basket on the side.
Octopus
One player is in the middle of the pool and all others are along one wall. The object of the game is to get from one side to the other without being ‘caught’ by the octopus. Anyone who is ‘tagged’ by the player in the middle joins hands with them, until there is a long line of people across the middle snaking through the water like an octopus and preventing other players reaching the far side of the pool. When just one child is left free, they are the winner!
Find The Drink Bottle
Particularly successful for playing on holiday, where there are a limited number of toys to hand, this game is much harder than you might imagine! Take an empty drink bottle, fill it with water right to the top and replace the lid. If possible, find a bottle with a lid of the same colour as the base of the pool. All players have to close their eyes or turn away from the water, and the adult throws the bottle somewhere into the pool. When they hear the splash all children turn and try and find it! The clear plastic bottle camouflages against the tiles and can be hard to spot.
Create a Whirlpool
Did you know that in a small pool, a group of children moving progressively faster in a circle will create a whirlpool effect? Who needs a funky hot tub or some power jets? Try it and see what happens!
Hopefully you’ll like the sound of one or more of these fun games, so I’ll see you in the water soon! What games have you been playing, is there anything I’ve missed out, have you tried any of these ones I’ve come up with?
As a child I remember playing some of these favorite games, what was your favorite game to play in a swimming pool?