Summer Break: Ideas for Games to Play in the Pool or at the Beach

The arrival of summer and sultry weather means the passage of time inside a pool or in the water at the beach. Keeping kids entertained in the water, especially inside a pool and especially in one of those cramped above-ground pools, can be a real pain in the patootie. Unless, of course, you have equipped yourself with the knowledge of a passel of pool games that can make water recreation fun.

Water Tug of War
This water game is most easily played in a pool and requires the use of a fairly strongly made rope and a big balloon. You also need at least four players. Line up the players on opposite sides of the pool and place the rope down the middle. Tie the large balloon in the middle of the rope and old fashioned tug of war becomes a bit more challenging as you must not only fight against the opposite team but also the water pressure.

Sunken Treasure
A classic pool game that can be made even more fun by being played in the water at the beach. As little as two people can play this water game and the maximum can go up to as many kids as can fit inside the pool or ocean. Get yourself a brightly colored object to play Sunken Treasure on the easy side of the levee. Increase the difficulty by using an object that is the same color as the bottom of the pool or sand. Obviously, it should go without saying, if you are playing this pool game as a beach game, you want an object heavy enough to stay in the place where it lands and not be driven too far off course by underwater currents. Blindly toss the object and let the teams dive to find the sunken treasure.

Umbrella Racing
The great thing about playing in a pool is that it provides a natural force against which human locomotion must push against. This means that what is easy enough to do on land can become humorously difficult when applied to the water. Once again, this pool game requires at least two people. Place at least two closed umbrellas on the lip of one side of the pool. Play begins opposite. At your signal, those players take off from the edge of the pool farthest away from the umbrellas. After swimming across to the side where the umbrella awaits, each player grabs the item and proceeds to open it. The open umbrella must be held aloft above the surface of the water as the player swims back to the side where they started.

Swimming Pool Baseball
If you can play polo in a pool without a horse, why not play baseball in a pool without a bat? Attach a heavy weight to one end of a piece of rope and a float of some sort on the other end. Arrange the floats in the traditional diamond shape of a baseball field. These are the bases. Rather than a baseball, this pool game requires some kind of smaller rubber ball. The hand replaces the bat. The rest of this water game requires nothing more than a knowledge of surface baseball and enough kids to make up two teams.

Submarine Tag
Is tag still a popular kids' game or has it gone the way of so many others thanks to the omnipresence of video games? If your kids don't know how to play land tag, they may have trouble grasping the rather simple rules to Submarine Tag. First explain the basics of tag and then add the following pool game rules. Pick someone to start off as It. Once he starts trying to tag the other players, the only rule is this: you are safe from being tagged only when you are completely submerged.