Are your kids getting tired of playing the same pool games toward the end of the summer? Try out a few of these traditional boardgames that have been tweaked for your Phoenix swimming pool!
Battleships and Submarines
Divide the group into two teams. Each team has a “base” against the wall of the pool, opposite each other. When the game starts, the battleship team comes off the wall and taunts the submarines into chasing them. The submarines push off when ready, swimming underwater and trying to touch/tag the battleships before the battleships reach base. If the sub is successful, the battleship switches sides (and the sub gets a free walk/swim back). If the sub is unsuccessful, the sub must swim back to its side. However, if the sub has to come up for air and the battleship splashes the sub, then the sub switches sides! The point of the game is to try and get everyone on your team.
For advanced swimmers and to make it harder, the battleships can grab the foot of the retreating sub, hoping to make them come up for air, but be careful, if the sub has enough air, they can turn around and touch the battleship, capturing them!
Swimming Pool Scrabble
Are you looking for a fun, but educational way to spend time in the swimming pool with your kids? Try tweaking a classic board game and turning it into a great swimming pool game! With a few everyday household supplies, you can create a fun pool activity for children of any age. Here is an idea for swimming pool scrabble from TODDLER APPROVED!
SUPPLIES:
Sponges
Scissors
Permanent marker
INSTRUCTIONS:
Cut sponges in half. Write letters on each sponge. We only put letters on one side, but you can easily make these “tiles” double sided to give you more spelling options. Throw the “scrabble sponges” in the pool, then swim to collect all of the pieces.
If your children are young and still learning to swim, try having them work together to collect all of the pieces and take turns swimming out to grab a letter, instead of making it a competition. If your kids have more developed swimming skills, you can maybe turn it into a race to spell the longest word, or a relay race between teams of swimmers.
There are also fun ways to adapt this pool activity for extremely young swimmers. For three year olds, you can have them practice putting the letters in alphabetical order, or finding the letters that make up their own name. With older children, you can see how many words they can spell from a small collection of letters.
However you decide to adapt swimming pool scrabble for your young swimmers, it is sure to be a great way to learn about language and vocabulary while practicing some of swimming skills.
Shasta Pools is a Phoenix pool builder who provides a variety of services including swimming pool remodeling, commercial pool building, and pool service and repair. Since its establishment in 1967, Shasta has helped over 80,000 families realize their dream of pool ownership. By providing exceptional value, quality craftsmanship and superior customer service, the Shasta team continues to fulfill the corporate mission of astonishing and delighting their customers and exceeding expectations. You can learn more about Shasta Pools & Spas by visiting them online, or by connecting with them on Facebook or Twitter.
