Five fun pool games to play this Summer
Playing with friends and family in the backyard swimming pool is what an Aussie summer is all about. This playtime is also a fantastic opportunity for your kids to put the swimming skills they’ve learnt this year into action. Here, our JUMP! swimming instructors share five fun skill-based games to play in the pool with the kids this summer.
1 – Treasure hunt:
Suitable for independent swimmers and kids learning stroke development
How to play:
– Hide a variety of objects at the base of the pool.
– Then, let the kids wear swimming goggles, take a deep breath, and dive into the pool to look for them.
– Make this more challenging by giving the kids a time limit!
2 – Baby shark’s dinner time
Suitable for independent swimmers and kids learning stroke development
How to play:
– Nominate one child to be the ‘baby shark’. They stand at one end of the pool, facing away from the other players who stand at the other end of the pool.
– The players shout, ‘What’s the time baby shark!’. The baby shark announces a time, and the players must step or swim forward that number of steps (or kicks).
– When the baby shark announces, ‘dinner time!’ all players have to swim as fast as they can to the other end of the pool before the baby shark catches them for dinner!
3 – Ping pong catch
Suitable for swimming babies and independent swimmers
How to play:
– Throw ping pong balls (or other floating balls) into the pool.
– Announce, ‘go!’ and let all kids catch as many balls as they can. The child with the most balls is the winner.
– Adults should hold younger kids under their arms to support them in the water.
4 – Dolphin race
Suitable for independent swimmers and kids learning stroke development
How to play:
– Give each child their own beach ball.
– Ask them to push the ball from one side of the pool to the other using only their nose.
– Anyone who uses their hands has to go back to the starting line.
– The first child to reach the other side of the pool wins!
5 – Red light, green light
Suitable for swimming babies and independent swimmers.
How to play:
– Hold your child in the water, or if they’re a little older, ask them to hold onto the side of the pool, facing the wall.
– When you say green light, ask your child to have him kick as fast as they can! A red light means stop, and yellow light means kick slowly.
– Make sure to encourage your little one to point their toes, as this is what will propel them through the water.
– More advanced swimmers could play this game with a kickboard.
Spending time in and around water is a great way for kids to develop their swimming skills. Enrolling your kids in swimming lessons will develop their skills even further! Get in touch with your local JUMP! Swim school if you’d like your little one to become more water confident. We’ll teach your kids all they need to enjoy water play over the hot summer months.