Whether your child is having a birthday party, or just having some friends over for some backyard fun, they’ll enjoy playing water games in and around the kiddie pool. They can play for prizes, or just play for fun, but they’ll all have a great time. You don’t need a bunch of money to set up several different water games that can be played around the pool.
One fun game is done when you break out some old Frisbees. Float a Frisbee in the pool so that you create a “bowl”. Line kids up and have them toss a flat, kitchen sponge onto the floating Frisbee. You can give each child three attempts or just one. Or, you can use two Frisbees and each child has to land a sponge on each one. Make a line and have kids stand behind it to throw. If a sponge lands in the pool simply wring it out and use it again. Don’t have any Frisbees? Use disposable Styrofoam plates instead.
Play a similar Frisbee-type game in the pool by setting a Styrofoam plate on the water. Give kids five pennies and have them toss them onto the plate. The child who gets all five pennies on is the winner. This can be played with Frisbees instead of a plate.
Make trays of ice cubes before the party to play a different water game. Tint the ice cubes with food coloring and make at least two different colors. Place several cubes each, of two different colors, in the pool at one time. Give kids a sand shovel, large spoon or other implement with which to scoop out the ice. Have them scoop it out and drop it in a cup or bowl beside them. The child who scoops out all of his color first wins. The ice cubes can be used over and over, as other kids play, or you can make a color for each child and let them all scoop at the same time. The child who retrieves all of his ice cubes first is the winner.
Put several kids in the pool at one time, with a cup or bowl outside of the pool beside each child, and have them scoop out marbles. Pour a chosen amount of marbles into the pool and have kids scoop them out with a spoon or other implement. The kids can be wet and cool while playing this game. The child who gets “5” or another number of marbles out first, and into his container, is the winner.
Other games kids can play around the pool include laying a blow-up ring in the pool and having the kids take turns tossing a ball through the hole or having them land a beach ball on top of the hole. When it’s hot outside, and you have several small kids to entertain, there’s no better way than to gather them around the kiddie pool for some fun games. Make sure there is always an adult standing by the pool during the games.
