Children’s (Free) Swimming Pool Party Games

kids-pool-party purchased thru istock

Children love swimming pools and love to play games – and it’s easy to combine both. Whether it’s a birthday party or a family gathering, pool party games will keep little ones entertained and amused for a long time and you’ll never hear “I’m bored”.

Your pool party games can be as creative as your imagination, and you can match the games and rules based on the ages and skills of your swimmers. Here’s some pool party games that cover a wide range of swimmer ages – mostly FREE!

Pool Basketball / Pool Volleyball Games

You can’t go wrong with a fun and friendly game of pool basketball or pool volleyball. Ball games are an all-time favorite with kids and playing in the pool multiplies the fun and thrill.

However if you would prefer to go with something more rugged that can also be enjoyed by adults, you may want to consider a Pool Basketball Game or our In Ground Pool Volleyball Game – priced a bit higher but keeps the pool games going longer!

beach-ball-for-kids-pool-parties

Or, you can just string up a rope across the pool, and use a beach ball for a slower paced pool volleyball game that’s perfect for kids. Speaking of beach balls, kids can create lots of games with a few of these. Not only volleyball, but dodgeball, water polo or keep-away games.

Pool Diving Games

Treasure Hunt. A classic swimming pool game, a treasure hunt is a perfect choice for a kids’ pool party, and involves everyone. There are endless possibilities for things that you can throw in your pool for children to retrieve. Coins, marbles, army men, or plastic treasure “trinkets”.

buy sunken treasure game

To add a little challenge, divide children into two teams (with better swimmers on the far side) and have them stand on opposite sides of the pool facing away from the pool (no peeking!). Toss in the treasure, or the Ship Wreck dive game and let the children bring them back.

The team to retrieve the maximum number of trinkets wins; as an added bonus, reward the winners by allowing them to keep some of their booty.

Diving and Jumping Contests

Cannonball Contest. Offering a lot of challenge and friendly competition, your pool party guests will line up to participate in the Cannonball Challenge. Use a diving board for this game. Have the kids queue up and jump in the pool one by one. The one who makes the biggest splash wins, and will be smiling the rest of the party.

two girls jumping into pool - image by istockphoto

Group Jump. In groups of 3-5 kids, have them all hold hands and jump in the pool together. The group with the most consistent form, or the best jumping style (as judged by you) – wins! Take pictures as proof, and to have some great pool party pictures.

Crazy Jump. You definitely want your camera ready for this. One at a time, kids can display their best funny pool jumps (no diving). Have an adult on their launch area to keep the jumping safe and orderly, and one across the pool to take the pictures for voting, or for judging.

Pool Race Games

Fashion Mat Inflatable Pool Lounger

Raft Race. You will need a couple of inflatable pool rafts for this fun pool party game that young guests will adore. Let them cross the pool riding the canoe one by one or in pairs, while you record their time in transit. Or, run team relays and determine the winner by the time it takes for all team members to cross the pool from one end to the other.

Bumper Tube Race. Almost as much fun as bumper cars when the race begins, line up 2-4 children in pool tubes, and have them paddle backwards to the other end of the pool and back. Or, divide the children into equivalent teams and have Relay bumper tube races, where each participant paddles to the other end of the pool and back.

Pool Noodle Race. This is a new product this year, and it’s going to be a big hit at all the cool pool parties. For this kids pool party game, the racers wrap the pool noodle around their body, tied in back, and then swim the length of the pool and back. It’s hilarious to watch, so have your camera ready for this race!

Pool Party Piñata

Who doesn’t love to hit a piñata and gather a bunch of candy? I know you are thinking that piñatas can only be used on the land but believe me using a piñata over the water is a lot more fun.

pool-party-pinata

You can buy a piñata from a store or let your creative juices flow and create one of your own. I found this beach ball piñata online, and it was a big hit (pun intended)! Fill your pool party piñata with cool water toys like squirt guns, foam balls, goggles.

Hang the piñata over your pool using a long rope or hold it out over the pool with your pool pole. You’ll need a blindfold, and a wiffle ball bat, or a similar tool. Lead each player into the water, put on the blindfold (optional), and let them have at it.

FREE! Swimming Pool Games for Children & Teens


Pool Games for teenagers

Bottle
Similar to Steal The Bacon, this pool game requires a CLEAR plastic 2 liter bottle with the label removed. Fill the 2 litre bottle full of pool water, and put the cap on tightly. Divide your swimmers into two teams. Each team will take opposite ends of the pool as their endzone. Place a pool chair on the edge of the pool at each end as the goal. Line up the players on either end of the pool, facing the outside – with eyes closed. Throw the bottle into the pool, (which will sink) and yell “Go!” The players launch off the wall and dive for the bottle.

Chicken
A real classic pool game, kids of equal size mount the shoulders of their team mate, two players to a team. The bottom person holds on to the top person, while the top players battle each other, trying to know the other team over. Last team standing wins this pool game. Be careful with the pool edge, and keep a referee in the water to make sure everyone is safe and away from the edge. Oh, and no eye-gouging allowed!

Toothpick
This pool game only requires a toothpick and several swimmers. Line up your swimmers on one edge, and when ready, a non-contestant dives into the deep end and releases a toothpick. Quickly swimming out of the way, and yelling “toothpick” when he surfaces. All players dive in the pool and try to find this needle in a haystack. Use a un-colored wooden toothpick for ths pool game.

Water bottle Underwater
Give each player a small bottle of water. Standing in the shallow end, they remove the cap and place the bottle in their mouths. On “Go!” they submerge under water and drink the entire bottle of water. The first person to rise to the top with an empty bottle is the winner of this pool game.

Wet Shirt Relay
Give two teams a large or extra large shirt. Half of each team will go to the opposite end of the pool. At the whistle the first person of each team puts on the shirt (over their bathing suit of course) and swims to the other side where their teammates are. They are pulled out of the water and then must remove the wet shirt and give it to the next person. Team players can help! The first team to get all players across the pool in the wet shirt wins!

Pool Games for children 10-12 years old

Bumper Boats
Each player mounts an inflated pool tube, and when “Go!” is announced, they push, splash, paddle their way into each other. Using feet and hands is allowed, but no touching the other contestants – only touch the tube, or you get expelled for 30 seconds. The object of this pool game is to knock others off of their tube, into the water.

Diving Board H.O.R.S.E.
Players line up behind the diving board. Similar to the basketball game “HORSE”, the first diver states the dive or jump they will do. If they complete it, then the next diver has to duplicate the same dive (jump, flip, cannonball, whatever, but always different). If they also do it correctly – then the next diver also attempts the same dive. If a diver does it incorrectly, (and you may need a referee) they get a “letter”, beinning with H. The next person in line then gets to call the next dive. Once you mess up 5 times, (and spell HORSE) you are eliminated. Continue until all have been eliminated except one – the winner.

Jump or Dive
In this game, line up the participants behind the diving board, and designate one person to be the caller. The diver runs and jumps off the board, and while in mid-air (not too late) the caller yells out either “jump” or “dive”. The contestant reacts in mid-air, trying to correct themselves into either a jump or a dive, but usually ending up in a belly flop!

Jump the Noodle
With one person in the deep end, treading water, hold a pool noodle laying flat on the water at a perpendicular angle to the diving board. Start easy, say 3-4 feet from the board, and after each round, move the pool noodle a foot further away, eliminating those whose dives don’t clear the noodle. This pool game is easy and fun for all ages.

Sharks & Minnows
Make  two teams of swimmers and choose a home base on opposite sides of the pool.  When the game starts, the minnows push off the wall or dives into the pool. The sharks push off when ready, and while swimming underwater, try to touch/tag the minnows before they reach the other side. If the minnow reaches the other side without being tagged, one of the sharks comes over to the minnows team. When a minnow gets tagged, however, he/she becomes a shark. The point of this pool game is to try and get everyone on your team.

Pool Games for children 6-9 years old

CannonBall Contest
This one also needs no explanation, and this pool game doesn’t even need a diving board. One at a time please, with a judge to rate the cannonballs according to splash height, Splash width, style or creativity.

Coin Chase
Line the kids up, seated on the shallow end wall. Standing in front of the kids, drop the coins below them as you walk in front of them. Be sure to space them out to give the kids plenty of room without elbowing and kicking each other. When ready, create different games by naming a winner who brings you an exact amount, or the most pennies, or the most value overall. Have the kids help count out what they collect.

Marco Polo
In this game, the person who is ‘it’ has to close their eyes, while saying ‘Marco!’ The other players yell back ‘Polo’ – to give a hint as to their location. Keeping eyes closed, the searcher has to tag one of the other players. Using goggles or a mask with taped insides can prevent the searcher from peeking.

Ducky Push
You’ll need enough rubber duckies for each player. Swimmers line up on one side of the pool, and swim across to the other side, blowing or bumping the duck with their face only. You many not touch the duck with hands, or bite the duck and carry it in their mouth. Splashing other players ducks is allowed, however, no touching off the other player is permitted. First swimmer to get their duck safely to the other side is the winner.

Jump Out – Call Out
In this game, a older child or adult sits on the side of the pool, and just at the moment that a player leaps off the diving board, a short surprise question is asked, which must be answered before submerging in the water. Start easy with “Favorite Color!” or “Favorite Food!”, and progress to more advanced questions like “Sound of Dog!” or “Sound of Cow!”, to even harder, (but always short 2-3 word questions) like “Name the Principle!”, or “First US President!”.

Surfing USA
Inflate a pool raft and time each contestant to see how long they can stand on a (fairly solid) pool raft while singing the Beach Boy’s anthem; “Surfing USAAAAA…” Be careful to do this in the middle of the pool, away from the edge. For extra help for smaller kids, hold one end of the pool raft as they stand up. The one who can last the longest without falling in wins this pool game.

Pool Games for children 3-5 years old

kids and parents in pool

Most children at 3-5 years old have developed some coordination but their swimming skills or comfort may be low. Keep the kids on the shallow steps, and evaluate each swimmer’s ability and comfort level before beginning any swimming games. Keep a close eye on the games to avoid bumps and bruises. Be IN the water with them during the games, so you can act fast if needed.

Hungry Whale
One swimmer is chosen to be the whale. Floating on his or her back, (may need assistance) the other kids gather around, making a circle around the whale. The children walk around the whale while you or the children sing a new improvisational ‘Hungry Hungry Whale Song’ – which could go something like ‘Hungry, hungry whale, what’s for lunch?’ or ‘Hungry, hungry whale, floating in the pool’. At any point, the ‘whale’ yells ‘Thar she Blows!’, and flips over to chase nearby swimmers. If he tags one before the swimmer has touched the wall, the tagged swimmer becomes the new hungry whale. You can change the animal type if you like (dolphin, hippo, shark).

Tea Party
For your most comfortable swimmers, here’s a fun game. This game is simply sitting on the floor of the shallow end, cross legged, and pretending to serve and sip tea from imaginary tea cups (for just a few seconds). You can pour the imaginary tea for them underwater. Their eyes should be open and breath exhaled, to allow them to sink to the floor. Don’t allow any hyperventilating before going under the water, this can lead to shallow water blackout.

Arms and Legs Race
Divide swimmers into pairs. Assign them each to be either ‘Arms’ or ‘Legs’. Line the pairs up against the side shallow wall, and tell ‘Legs’ to hold on tightly to ‘Arms’ waist. When you say Go, Arms will use his arms to pull across the water, and walk across the floor, and Legs kicks as fast as they can. First pair to go across the pool and back, without breaking form wins.

Beach Ball Race
Using one or two small beachballs, have two kids race each other across the shallow end of the pool, and back, using only their face to push the ball along in front of them. No hands allowed! This makes a perfect swimming relay for young kids. A variation is to have them hug the beach ball tightly, and kick across the pool.

Kickboard battle
Use two players per kickboard, or raft. At opposite ends of the kickboard, both players kick their hardest and try to move the opponent backwards. This is a tournament of kicking strength. Have them kick their hardest, and pronounce a winner when one player drives the other backwards by 2-3 feet.

Swimming Games for children 1-3 years old

toddler with pool noodle

Toddlers, or kids under 3 are great at inventing their own games. Having a beach play set or various floating or inflatable plastic toys helps encourage activity in a wading pool or shallow area of the pool. Children can relax too, in a small 24 in. pool tubes.

Water Gun Race
Using an inflatable water wings or beachballs or balloons with just a small amount of water in them, have the kids sit on the edge and spray water guns at the floating items, to drive them to the other side of the baby pool. First one to reach the other side wins.This is similar to our

Ice Cube Hunt
Drop several large ice cubes into the wading pool, and have them collect them in a pail. Be quick before they melt!

Ping Pong Pickup
Drop several ping pong balls into the wading pool, and have them collect them with a plastic spoon, and place them in their own cup. For more advanced games, write a star or point values onto several of the ping pong balls.

Boat Race
If you have small plastic boats great, if not, use small balloons with a small amount of water, or small colored balls. Have the children race their ‘boats’ across the wading pool, to see who has the ‘fastest ship’. With a ball of string, you can have boat “pull” races from one side to the other.

Animal Charades
Pretending to be animals, as they move from one side of the wading pool to the other. Tell them the animal and let them perform. Kangaroos, hippos, elephants, rabbits…

Ring Toss
Using the classic pool diving rings game that older kids enjoy, set-up a floating pole or a heavier pole situated on the floor of the wading pool or shallow area. Seated on the edge, they can take turns playing a ring toss game.


I hope you like my pool party ideas for kids and incorporate some or all of them into your next pool party – my kids love these pool games! If you have some fun kid’s pool party ideas, leave a reply below, and I’ll add it to the list!

Have a blast at your kids’ pool party and remember to practice safe and active supervision at all times during your kids pool parties!