It’s another hot day, and you’re going to the pool. What do you do in the pool on a hot day? Of course, play swimming pool games. These are some of the most unusual pool games ever and are ideal for a pool party or simply pool games for children to play on a hot summer day!
My family has a wonderful time at the pool all summer long, swimming, playing water games, and just having a good time!
I love playing swimming pool games at the pool. It’s definitely on our summer bucket list! It’s unnecessary to hold a pool party to play swimming pool games with others – all you need are other people!
Please ensure you keep a close eye on the youngsters when playing any of these swimming pool games. These activities include swimming underwater, competitive swimming, and other silly things. Water may be a hazardous environment, so watch out if they’re playing any of those games.
The Best Swimming Pool Games
This list has been divided into several categories, including pool games for kids and pool games for adults (and older children/teens). Honestly, all games can be played by anyone at the end of the day, but adult games are a bit harder, so maybe teens and up.
I also suggest that you be cautious if you’re at a crowded public pool when playing these swimming pool games. Some of these are more suited to private pools or public pools with a small number of visitors. I’ve written down in each game what I recommend it for.
Pool Games For Kids
As I previously stated, these games may be enjoyed by adults as well, but they’re simple enough swimming pool games that kids can play! Some of my favorites are there and games I’m not even sure I played when I was a kid! Kids are now more inventive than ever when it comes to pool party games!
1. Marco Polo
You are missing out on a pool party classic if you’ve never played Marco Polo before. A person closes his eyes and counts to ten. Everyone is scattered around the pool while counting.
The person known as “Marco” keeps their eyes closed while swimming around the pool, announcing their name. When they shout Marco, everyone above the water must scream “Polo!” loudly. You don’t have to say anything if you’re underwater, but you can’t go beneath the water after they say Marco because it would be interpreted as Polo.
If that person tags someone, that person switches places and becomes the one to call Marco and search for the other players.
Best played in any pool of any size with any number of people
2. Sharks & Minnows
Pick one person to be the shark (or two if you have more than 10 people), and everyone else is a minnow. If you are playing in a small pool, the shark is standing in the middle of the pool, and the minnows are all standing on one side of the pool facing the sharks. Choose a section of the pool and range from one side to the other, covering the shorter length of the pool if it’s a large pool.
The shark says, “Fish, fish, come and play,” and the miners have to start walking toward the shark, and the shark stops. They can scream “Shark Attack!” whenever they want to see the shark (or original shark if there are many). When they scream about a shark attack, the miners try to run/swim to the other side of the pool without being tagged by the shark. If they’re tagged, they become a shark in the next round, so there are multiple sharks.
Play till there is only one minnow left, who it happens, the starting shark for the following game.
Best played in any pool of any size with many people.
3. Change Champion
Toss a handful of coins, both large and little (quarters, nickels, dimes, etc.), to the bottom of the pool — decide on a depth according to how experienced your swimmers are. When given the go signal, players must enter the pool and attempt to gather as much money from the bottom of it as possible.
The hard part? To pick up a coin, they must first reach for it with their hands (so they can grab two coins if they’re close together). Play until the end of the game, when all of the change has been discovered, and the player with the most cash (not necessarily the highest number of coins) wins. If you want to make it simpler for younger kids, simply give out who can earn the most coins (ignoring the dollar amount).
If you want to add this game to your pool party, distribute coins or candy money as a prize for the winner. Or let them keep the money they’ve earned.
Best played at an empty public pool/private pool of any size with any number of people
4. Mother Duck
Toss ping pong balls all around the pool and have everyone outside of the pool. When the ping pong balls have been spread throughout the pool, declare “go,” and everyone must jump into the pool to begin the game.
Players must be “herd” ping pong balls to a designated pool wall without actually touching them in order to play. They may make waves, splash, or do whatever else it takes to get the ping pong balls to move across the pool — but they can’t physically touch them. As a result of the water, ping pong balls will float to the designated wall in this game. They can choose it up out of the water and put it in a bucket on the pool’s edge as a team (or personal) score.
Continue playing until all of the ping pong balls are out of the pool. You may also use these rubber ducks to match the mother duck theme if you wish.
Best played at an empty public pool/private pool of any size with any number of people
5. Ping Pong Pursuit
I have a lot of ping pong balls because I’ve been playing all of these minute-to-win-it games, so here’s another one that utilizes them in the pool. They’re ideal for pool party games since they float!
Ask all players to stand inside the pool, but place the wall on the edge of the pool with their eyes closed or facing the outside of the pool in this game. Dump the ping pong balls in the pool and move them around to be all over the pool.
Players must keep their eyes closed and search the pool for ping pong balls when you say “go.” The first player to find five ping pong balls with his eyes closed wins. If it’s a tiny private pool and you have a lot of ping pong balls, you can increase that to 10 balls.
Best played at an empty public pool/private pool of any size with any number of people
6. Pool H-O-R-S-E
Play the swimming pool version of H-O-R-S-E, a popular basketball game. Single-player shoots into a pool basketball hoop, and if they make it, the other players must attempt the same shot. If they make the shot, they’re all set. If they miss the shot, it’s an H for them.
The player to the left takes a shot and fires it. Everyone else has to shoot the same shot, and anyone who misses gets a letter spelling out the word H-O-R-S-E. When you’ve finished spelling out HORSE, you are out. Play until everyone has spelled HORSE except for one person, the winner.
Best played in any pool of any size with many people
7. Pool Party Bingo
Do you want to get out of the water for a while? This pool party bingo game would allow children to sip strawberry lavender lemonade and take a short rest from swimming while having a good time! The ultimate gift for the parents who have everything, a beautiful way to get them to eat some food. Ask them to eat while you play bingo.
Best played in any pool of any size with many people
8. Pool Obstacle Course
Set up an obstacle course in the pool that kids have to race through. How long does it take? Go through the obstacle (if you want some kind of competition) or let the kids go through it for fun.
Here are some excellent obstacle ideas:
- Use hula hoops as rings for kids to swim in
- Jump/dive over a floating noodle in the water
- Swim across a pool section and climb on a pool float.
- Snatch and Dive a ring from the bottom of the pool, then swim with it on your foot.
- Make a shot in the floating basketball net.
- Swim through a bunch of floating toys and cones (like you would go around cones on the ground)
Best played at an empty public pool/private pool of any size with any number of people
9. Touch & Know
This is a unique take on sharks and minnows. The basic concept is for one individual to be “it” while the rest of the group tries to avoid being labeled. I prefer playing this game in a small part of the pool so that there is less distance for the person covering it. The person in charge is positioned in the middle of the pool, with everyone else standing on one side.
The person who is there has to say a topic like “Marvel Superhero” and then go to start the game. Players must swim from one end of the pool to the other without being tagged.
If a player is tagged, they must yell out something that relates to the topic within 3 seconds, somewhat like in this Sporcle game, and may continue on their way. If a player is not tagged and makes it to the wall, they must shout out something from the topic that no one else has yet named. Players who are tagged must also name things, so everyone will have to pay attention the entire round.
For example, if someone were tagged and called Captain America, the first person to reach the wall could not say, Captain America — they’d have to pick Iron Man or another character from Infinity War.
If everyone can name something in the subject and no one else becomes “it,” that person tries again with a different subject. The objective is to produce questions that have answers but aren’t too simple (Green vegetables are hard versus Marvel superheroes). If a player cannot identify an item in the topic, it is their turn for the following round, and they select the topic.
Best played in any pool of any size with many people
10. Guess & Go
One person is standing on the pool’s edge, facing away from the pool. Everyone else is stationed along the pool’s same edge, just in front of the person who is it.
The person who is there chooses a range like the colors. At the start of each game, everyone in the pool must think of a color and maintain it throughout the game(e.g., red.). It’s a color game, and the person who is it yells out a hue while facing away from the pool. Before someone can tag them, they must swim across the pool to the other side before the individual who is it can jump in and tag them.
The person who will know that someone is swimming on the other side if he hears someone swimming turns around and jumps in. The goal is for the swimmers to remain as silent as possible so that the individual does not notice they are moving.
If a person turns around and there is no one in the pool swimming (a false splash/sound), the individual who is it must take a step forward away from the pool’s edge, making it more difficult for them to catch swimmers.
The person is safe if the person can swim to the pool on another side. If they are tagged, they are.
Best played in any pool of any size with many people
11. Pool Tic Tac Toe
Tie nine hula hoops together so that you have three in a row, both horizontally and vertically, like on a tic-tac-toe board. Or you can just buy it instead. Drop the tic-tac-toe board into the water.
Bounce the middle balls on the tic-tac-toe board, attempting to put them in the hula hoops. It’s the other player’s turn if you can’t manage to put it in the hula hoop. The first person to land the beach balls three in a row wins.
If you are playing this as one of your pool party games, set up a tournament and whoever wins the tournament wins a prize like a pack of tic tacs or an inflatable beach ball to take home.
Do you want to play more swimming pool games with your children? This book contains over 100 swimming pool games that are ideal for kids!
Best played at an empty public pool/private pool of any size with any number of people
12. Four Corners
This party game is excellent if you want children to get some exercise and have fun while doing it! A person is standing in the middle of the pool. Assign each of the four pool corners or all the corners if your pool has more than four with color, number, or another identifier that will be easy to recall.
For example, corner one might be red, two yellow, three blue, and corner four green. If you’re organizing a pool party or a private pool, hang a balloon or anything near the corner to let people know which one is which.
The person standing in the pool middle closes his eyes and says go. When he gives the signal, everyone else has to begin moving around the pool from corner to corner. The person in the middle screams “stop” (keeping his eyes shut), and everyone must swim to and stand in the corner they’re nearest to.
The person in the middle then screams out one of the corners (e.g., red), and everyone inside that corner must leave the pool immediately or get out of the water. After each person from that corner has left the pool, the caller says go again, and the game begins again.
Continue to play rounds until fewer than five players are remaining (or the same number of corners as you have if you have more than four corners). When that happens, everyone must move to a distinct corner. Continue until there is only one player left and that person, at which point they will start the next caller.
Best played in any pool of any size with many people
13. Duck Duck Dolphin
This is simply a water version of Duck Duck Goose, a popular children’s game. Instead of having children sit in a circle, have them stand in a circle of water (or you can sit in the shallow section – just be cautious).
One individual walks around and taps individuals on the head, saying “Duck” or “Dolphin.” Anyone who is tagged “dolphin” must pursue the person who tagged them by swimming only, and they are not permitted to run. The swimmer who did the tagging also has to swim back and try to reclaim that seat before they are tagged.
Best played in any pool of any size with many people.
Swimming Pool Games For Adults
Older children, teens, or adults enjoy playing swimming pool games. They’re a little more competitive, have winners, or require superior swimming abilities. As I previously said, Pools can be hazardous; therefore, be extra cautious while playing any of these games.
14. Human Ring Toss
Pool noodles may be tacked together to produce rings. People should be positioned throughout the pool in various locations. See who can throw noodle rings around people in the pool. Give each swimmer a point value to make it more difficult – the farthest away gets five points, and the nearest one receives one. The person who scores the most points is the winner.
Best played at an empty public pool/private pool of any size with any number of people
15. Spikebuoy
You’ll enjoy SpikeBouy, which is a water version of SpikeBall if you like Spike Ball as my family does. Like Spike Ball in the water, water volleyball is not without its risks. However, there are much more diving and enjoyment for everyone when you play this water game.
Best played at an empty public pool/private pool of any size with any number of people
16. The Tee Game
Give one person a white golf shirt and ask them to stand in the middle of the pool. The rest of the guests stand on the pool’s edge, out of the water.
The person with a white tee dives to the pool’s bottom, puts the tee on the bottom, and then exits the pool as quickly as possible. They’ve lost this round in the search for the tee.
Everyone by the pool watches to see where the tee floats on the surface. They can jump/dive into the water (depending on the depth) as soon as they notice the tee. The player who receives the tee scores a point and places it on the bottom of the pool for the next round. The winner is the first person to score five points.
Best played at an empty public pool/private pool of any size with any number of people
17. Water Spoons
You’ve undoubtedly played the classic spoons game. Have you ever tried it where there are spoons on the other side of a swimming pool?
You can get instructions here if you don’t know how to play spoons.
In the pool game version, simply play the card game on one side of the pool and place the spoons on the other. When someone has all of the cards, they can either dive into the pool and swim/run across to grab a spoon or walk around the pool on the outside to get to them.
Make it much more difficult by placing the spoons at the bottom of the pool and forcing persons to pluck one out with their hands in order to retrieve their spoon.
I recommend buying a set of these waterproof playing cards so you don’t ruin your cards when people inevitably drop them on the wet group or, worse, take them in the pool by mistake while rushing to get a spoon.
Best played at an empty public pool/private pool of any size with a smaller group of people
18. Watermelon Football
This game is played in teams. The aim is to play water football with watermelon instead of a ball. That watermelon is greased or slicked before it’s placed in the water.
One team stands on one side of the pool as in a regular football game and tries to move the watermelon to the other side of the pool for a “touchdown.” The second team is on the other side of the pool, hoping to prevent the watermelon from reaching the wall.
The watermelon is passed from one team to the next, moving across the pool. One player on each team may run the watermelon or hand it over to their teammates so they can carry it over to the other side of the pool. The other team can defend depending on your group, you can either play full contact with dunking, etc., or you can play that you can only touch other people – no grabbing, dunking, catching, etc., and not watermelon.
Suppose the opposing team gains possession of the ball and can grab it or intercept a pass. In that case, the game is immediately turned around, and the opposing team goes on offense, attempting to score points by carrying the watermelon to their own end zone.
It may seem simple, but greasing the watermelon to make it slicker makes it a whole lot more difficult. It’s not as simple as running with watermelon like they do in Lake Lure. Play a certain number of periods, and the team that scores the most points (one point per touchdown) wins.
Are you concerned about getting a genuine football into the pool? Instead, check out one of these watermelon balls designed specifically for watermelon football.
Best played at an empty public pool/private pool of any size with any number of people
19. Floating Cornhole
This floating corn hole set takes a classic outdoor game to the water. It even tethers to the pool’s edge, so they don’t float away or forget the cornhole game and see who can tape rubber duckies or other floating pool toys to rings in hula hoops or pool noodles. Don’t forget to use the bonus for the human ring toss game immediately after!
20. Five Hundred
One of my favorite outdoor games is five hundred, which was a typical game for my family to play when we were younger. The water version is even more exciting because catching a ball in the water is far more enjoyable than on the ground.
One person stands at one pool end holding a Nerf football (make sure it’s a soft Nerf – not a regular one), and the rest of the group stands on the other side of the pool in a group. The person is oriented away from himself and the group. They bounce the ball over their heads towards the waiting group and shout 100 to 500.
The player who catches the football in the group receives those points.
The tosser may also say “dead or alive,” with the figure that designates which player gets credit for the ball if it enters the water first. If a player is sent out and claims that 300 people are dead or alive, the team who gets the ball – whether it’s makes contact with the group or scores 300 points.
The first person to score a total of 500 points wins the round and becomes the next tosser.
Best played at an empty public pool/private pool of any size with any number of people
21. HydraPong
Try the Floating Foam Hydrapong Set and Ping Pong Balls to see who can throw ping pong balls into plastic cups first, just like the bra pong game in these bachelorette party games. This is another great way to use your pool. You may do this right in the swimming pool, but it’s a lot of fun as an add-on to any pool party!
If you don’t have a lot of space, this Floating pong set is a much smaller (and less expensive) option.
Don’t be afraid to go for it and make a unique shape out of your cups. You can use these floating rings as is or toss balls into them – they even come with points so that you may increase the difficulty level!
Best played at an empty public pool/private pool of any size with a smaller group of people
22. Ball Up
I’m not sure what to call it, so I’m going with the ball up. It’s one of the activities we do almost every time we go to the beach or pool. The greatest thing is that all you need is a ball!
Take a ball with you – a beach ball or a volleyball – anything that you may smash around. Everyone stands in a circle. One person hits the ball up and continues to try to hit the ball up into the area without hitting the water. Look how many times you can hit the ball in the air.
Make it more competitive by stating that if someone misses a hit or performs a poor hit, they are immediately eliminated and must leave the circle. The last person left standing is the winner.
Best played in any pool of any size with many people
23. Chicken
Two teams of two people play this game. For each team, one person gets on the other person’s shoulders. After that, the teams compete to see who can first knock the other player off of their shoulders. The losing team is the first to go down.
Best played in any pool of any size with many people.
Relay Pool Games
There are so many relay pool games you could participate in as a team, but instead of including even more games to this list, consider using any of these (instructions above) as relays with teams! Since the rules for these swimming pool games’ relay versions are somewhat different, I’ve included a list of relay rules below. Please see the preceding section for complete information on these swimming pool games!
The recommendations for what sort of pool to play these games in have not changed. They’ll just require a little more movement!
24. Hydrapong Relay
Place the game in the middle of the pool and have one player on the team swim in pong, make a shot at a cup, then swim back once they’ve swum and tag the next teammate. The first team to win all the cups wins.
25. Human Ring Toss Relay
The player has to throw the ring at a player on his team in the pool and move it around. When a player makes a ring, they enter the pool and become the human target; the previous target is moved to the rear of the line, and the next player begins tossing rings at their teammate. Continue until each player on the team has engaged another member of their own team.
26. Pool Tic Tac Toe Relay
A beach ball is tossed into the Tic Tac Toe board by the first player on a team. If they get there, it stays there. If they don’t succeed, they must swim to the board and pick up the beach ball before handing it off to the next player on their team and going back to the back of the line. The game continues with the next player grabbing the beach ball and repeating the action. The first team to complete a pair of tic-tac-toe in order wins.
27. Pool Obstacle Course Relay
Have one player on the team stand beside each obstacle in the pool. It is similar to the game Double Dare on Nickelodeon. When you give the command “go,” the first person must finish their task and tag the partner standing at the next obstacle. Continue until the first team has completed all of the obstacles.
28. Ping Pong Pursuit Relay
Make it a team relay rather than putting one individual up against finding five balls with their eyes closed. The first individual must swim to locate a ball, then return it to their team and tag the following person. Finally, the player must locate a ball of their own. Each team member should search for a ball until finding one, or the team finds ten balls together.
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