Nothing is better than swimming on a hot summer day to keep cool. Playing fun games in the pool with family and friends makes those dog days of summer even more fun! 

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Our kids love having friends over to swim and their time together always consists of active pool games, lots of splashing, and a good time. What I like about pool games is that for the most part they can be modified to include all ages and swimming abilities. There have been many times where a child who needs to wear a life jacket plays right along with those who are strong swimmers. 

I am happy to share with you our family's top five pool games that you can play this summer at your pool or a friend's pool. 

Safety reminder: all of these games require adult supervision!

6 Fun Pool Games For Kids To Play This Summer

1. TEE  

Before playing this game snag a wooden golf tee from your mom or dad's golf bag! This is a great game for all ages and abilities but it is highly recommended that lifejackets be worn by anyone who isn't a strong swimmer. 

• Everyone stands around the perimeter of the pool with their backs turned towards the pool except one person, who is designated as "it". 
• The person who is "it" takes the tee and jumps into the pool releasing the tee at any point as they swim to the surface. 
• After the person who is "it" climbs out of the pool everyone, including the one who was "it"starts to look for the tee (which will eventually surface and float). 
• The first person to spot the tee shout "tee" then jumps into the water trying to grab the tee as they jump. If they miss it the next person to spot it can yell "tee" and try to jump in and grab it. 
• The player who successfully grabs the tee when jumping in the water gets to start the next round. 

2. GHOST OR GO

Here is another great game for all ages and abilities, but lifejackets for those who can't swim are highly recommended though. 

• Everyone lines up along the perimeter of the pool and gets ready to listen. 
• One person is designated as the "caller" and their job is to say the word "ghost" or the word "go". 
• When the caller says "go" everyone must jump into the water, the last one to get in the water is out. The caller can say the word "ghost" quickly or very slowly to try and trick everyone to think he or she said "go". If a player jumps into the water when the caller says "ghost" they are out too.  
• Play continues until one person wins and becomes the new caller. 

3. STAR

Are you a movie lover? If so you are going to love playing this game. Follow along as I explain how to play this fun pool game. Use the shortest distance in your pool to play this game

• Designate one person as "it". Have them stand at one side of the pool with the rest of the players a short distance across from him/her. The person who is "it" thinks of a movie and gives only the first letter of each word of the movie title to the rest of the players as a clue. For example if the movie was Mary Poppins then the clue would be "MP". 
• Players must swim across the pool towards the player who is "it", tap their hand, and then say what they think the title of the movie is.
• If someone guesses correctly that round ends and they become the new person who is "it". 

4. SAY WHAT!?!

This game will truly test your reaction time and is sure to elicit tons of giggles from everyone! This game is really fun if you have a diving board to jump off of but if not the side of the pool works well too. 

• Select one player to be the "caller". Everyone else lines up to take a turn to jump off a diving board or the side of the pool. 
• From a safe but short distance away the caller calls out a topic to one player at a time as they jump into the pool. The player jumping in must shout out one or two words to go with the topic before they go under the water. Here is how it should go: as the first player is jumping into the water then the caller says: "type of dog"  player responds "Golden-doodle" the second person jumps and the caller says: "dessert" - player responds "icecream"

Here are some great topic ideas to get you started: general food groups: fruit = strawberry, dessert = ice cream, fast food restaurants = McDonald's, color = blue, animal sounds: cow = moo, duck = quack,   I hope you get the idea! Be creative with your topics. 

• Once everyone has had a turn jumping into the water a new caller is selected and play continues like the previous round. 

5. CATEGORIES

This is one of our family's favorite games to play in the pool! Let me tell you how to play

• First, select one person to be it. This person will select a category for the first round of play.  
• All players line up in the water at one end of the pool including the person who is "it" except the person who is "it" should stand out of the water with their back to the rest of the players. Then the person who is "it" tells everyone else what the category is for the round. Here are some examples of categories: months of the year, flavors of ice cream, NFL teams, school subjects, and tv shows. 
• All players think of an answer without telling anyone or saying their answer out loud. 
• The person who is it starts to name off possible answers and once a player hears their answer called they start swimming to the other side of the pool as quietly as possible. 
• If the person who is "it" hears someone swimming they quickly turn, jump into the pool and swim after them trying to tag them.
• When a player is tagged they become "it" and get to choose the next category. 

6. JUDGE GAME

Here is a game that lets you show off your serious (or goofy) pool skills. 

• One person is designated the "judge" each round and is responsible for picking the trick each swimmer must do and judging their performance.
• The judge says what trick everyone must do like the biggest cannonball, smallest splash pencil dive, funniest jump into the water. 
• After everyone has completed the round the judge declares a winner. The person who won the round gets to be the judge for the next round. 

Whether these are new-to-you pool games or you just haven't played them in a while, pool games are a fun way to enjoy the water while trying to keep cool.