It’s the middle of July right now and I feel safe saying it is hot everywhere! I am sure we have most of you beaten in temperature, as we live in Phoenix. However I have lived back east when I was a kid and can appreciate the effect that the extreme humidity can have on your comfort level.

As a way to combat the heat, many of us resort to swimming pools to cool us off. Be it your own pool, your community pool or your friend’s pool they all feel equally refreshing in the summer heat. With two boys, just having a pool isn’t entertaining enough. They must engage in some game or competition to keep their interest in the pool. I remember all the old stalwarts of pool games like Marco polo, tag, chicken, diving for stuff. However these are boring in their eyes. Thank you again XBOX!

To solve this issue, I do what every parent does when they are looking for something new. I Googled it. After wading through some of the same stuff I just mentioned, I found a group of games that were very fun and entertaining. So, here is our list of six different pool games that you can try to make pool time fun.

Before we get into the games, we want to give you a tool to help with picking teams. This is very helpful if you plan on using these games for a pool party. Breaking down the cliques and making sure everybody has fun is just as important. A good tool to use is the following:

• 
  
• Purchase beach balls matching the amount of people expected for the party.
  
• If you can, get different colors to match the amount of teams you want.
  
• Prior to the party, write each person’s name on the beach balls. If you are hosting a party for your kid then have them participate in the team selections making sure to keep them equal as possible.
  
• Inflate the beach balls and place them in your pool. As an ice breaker to the party, guests need to find their beach ball which will tell them the team they are on.
  

Hopefully this will help with the teams. Now let’s talk games!

The first game is called Categories. I actually participated in this one last summer with Dakota’s little league team. It goes by colors as well but the general premise is this:

• 
  
• The category needs to be selected to start the game. It can be changed each time the game starts. For the purpose of this discussion we will stick with colors.
  
• All participants line up in the pool on one side of the pool. Preferably you want them facing the long part of your pool.
  
• Then designate a catcher. This person gets out of the pool and turns, facing away from the pool.
  
• The catcher then asks the other swimmers if they have picked their color.
  
• The other swimmers need to respond yes.
  
• The catcher then begins yelling out different colors. Once the color that any of the swimmers have chosen is yelled out, they then must try and swim across the pool.
  
• The catcher, upon hearing the swimmers swimming can then turn around and jump in. The goal is to tag them before they get to the other side.
  
• Those that are tagged are out until all but one of the swimmers is left.
  
• Then the next round begins, repeating the process until there is one remaining swimmer.
  
  
  

The second game is called Tennis Ball Scramble. This one actually sounded real fun. In order to play this, you will need two hoola-hoops and a bunch of old tennis balls. Any type of ball will work, but what else are you using old tennis balls for? This is a team game so you will need to divide up your swimmers. The game goes like this:

• 
  
• Place two hoola-hoops in the middle of the pool.
  
• Then split the tennis balls evenly between the two hoola-hoops.
  
• Each team will need a bucket to hold their recovered tennis balls.
  
• Upon starting, one team member from each team swims out to their hoola hoop and recovers one ball and brings it back to their bucket.
  
• Once the tennis ball has been placed in the bucket the second team member goes.
  
• The relay continues until the first team has recovered all of their tennis balls.
  
• An optional spin on this is to have one hoola-hoop and write different point values on the tennis balls. The winning team is the one with the highest point total.
  

The third game is called the Frozen Shirt Game. This game will actually tie into the fourth game we will explain next. You need two shirts. The shirts should be large enough to fit everybody with some room to spare. Prior to the party or swimming day, freeze them so they will be in a large block of ice.

• 
  
• Each team will get their frozen shirt.
  
• They have to use whatever means you say is okay to melt the ice and retrieve the shirt.
  
• Once the shirt is thawed and wearable the team can proceed to the fourth game which is…
  

The fourth game is called the Soaked Shirt Relay. This can be done in conjunction with the frozen shirt game or you can skip right to this game without freezing the shirt. The physics behind this game is the effect of drag on your swimming. The game is a simple relay race.

• 
  
• Split your swimmers into two teams.
  
• Provide one adequate sized shirt for each team.
  
• The first swimmer for each team puts the shirt on over their swimsuit.
  
• The relay will start with both swimmers swimming the length of the pool and back.
  
• The shirt is then removed from the first swimmer and the second team member puts the shirt on before beginning their leg of the race.
  
• The winning team is the first to have all their team members swim their leg of the race.
  

The fifth and final game is called The Watermelon Relay. This one is fun! Watermelons are on sale too! This again plays with physics. You are trying to push a watermelon back and forth through the pool without touching the ground.

• 
  
• Split your swimmers into two teams.
  
• Each team has a watermelon in the pool. You can mark them to make sure they are pushing the right one.
  
• As in the other relay games, one swimmer at a time for each team pushes the watermelon up and back the length of the pool.
  
• The swimmers should only be pushing the watermelon while they are swimming. Standing and pushing requires them to start over.
  
• The winning team is the first to have all their team members swim their leg of the race.
  
• To add a degree of difficulty, cover the watermelons with petroleum jelly. This will make them harder to push.
  

Be sure to support our podcast by sharing it with others and rating our podcast on iTunes. Ratings helps us keep our podcast visible, giving other a chance to check our podcast out. A special thanks to those that have already provided a rating.

If you’d like to comment in this episode, please go to the bottom of this podcast. We look forward to reading your comments.

Don’t forget to check out the resources page to get access to some of the tools we have made available to our audience.

We are glad you joined us. Now go live one badass life!

The post OBAL 029: Marco….Making Pool Time Fun with Some Different Ideas! appeared first on One BadAss Life.