Games submitted by you!

TOWEL BALLOONS

You will need a minimum of four people to play this game.

Two kids grab the ends of the towels and the other team does the same. Put a water filled balloon in the middle of the towel on both teams and the teams have to throw the balloons with the towel and catch it with the towel. The first team who drops the balloon and it bursts loses.

UNCLE SAM

Uncle Sam is a game you can play in the pool with at least more than 3 or 4 people (the more people the better it is).It is almost like the game Categories except one person stands out of the pool away from everyone while everyone else is either on the side of the pool in the water or on the edge out of the water. The people who are not the ones it then say

"Uncle Sam, Uncle Sam may we cross you're river dam (now)?" The person who is it will answer only if you are wearing the color __________ (they pick any color they want to).Those people who are wearing that color get to swim across to the other side of the pool. Everyone left has to wait until the person who is it says "go". After everyone goes the person who is it jumps into the pool and tries to tag another player. If someone is tagged they are then it. If no one is tagged the same person goes again.

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I am the activity coordinator for a private pool and have the "duty" of coming up with new and exciting games for our annual Family Fling Day.
WET T-SHIRT RELAY

I don't know if you have tried this one, but our kids (and adults) love it...Wet T-shirt relay. Divide into two teams and half of each team goes to the opposite side of the pool. The two teams form two lines on each side of the pool. On signal, the first player in line on each team is handed a soaking wet t-shirt (we use identical X-large t-shirts). The player must put the shirt on completely before jumping into the pool and swimming (or running) across, tag the next player on his/her team. After tagging, the one with the t-shirt must remove the shirt and hand it to the next player and they put the shirt on and the game continues until the one team completes the relay. This game is fun for all ages. We usually have two adults in the pool to "help" the younger players across.

*****
Hi! I've worked as a lifeguard at a pool for about 6 years now and am always looking for new ideas for the kids that come to the pool. I've enjoyed reading your list of games, and thought that you might want to hear some of the games that I've done with kids.

Balloon Toss
Have the kids wait in a designated space (in or out of the water) and toss water balloons for them to catch. After throwing a couple, tell them that they don't get anymore unless they sing a song (can be anything like twinkle twinle little star, row, row, row your boat, or humpty dumpty...) Every time they sing a song, throw in a few more balloons and try a diferent song or make them say something like: "I love swimming!" or "Happy Birthday!". Keep doing this until you are out of balloons.

Underwater Race
Have the kids line up beside a length of a pool, (25m is ideal). One by one they have to start at one end and swim as far as they can underwater, until they have to come up for air. Once they surface, have them sit on the pool deck, besid the place where they came up. The top 5 or 10 people who went the farthest get a prize.

Penny Hunt
Throw a large amount of pennies (depending on the number of kids) into a good size pool. Cover about a third of the pennies with white out and send the children in to dive for them. If a child find a penny with white out, that child gets a prize. Great for all ages! Shallow for the youngest and deeper for the older kids.

Cannonball Contest
Have two groups; one for the cannonballs and the other group a team of judges. The cannonball group line up behind a diving board and have to make the biggest splash to get the higest vote. The judges are the voters and give each person a vote out of ten. An adult is needed to decide what the majority of the judges want to give each person.

Frozen Tag
Preferably in a smaller pool; it's just like regular frozen tag, but once tagged, a person has to swim under your legs to free you.

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London River
Everyone walks clockswise around the swimming pool without stopping. One per is in the water with a water hose under the water which is turned on. Everyone sings, "London river's flooding up, flooding up. . ." as the people walk whenever "flooding up" is sung the person in the water can move the hose out of the water and spray the person. THEN, the part in the song which says, "Take the key and lock her up," you will hold the hose out to a person and this person holds the hose and jumps into the water.

From Rachel in New Jersey

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LEAKING RELAY
Items needed: Bucket of water, Two cups with holes in the bottom and sides (equally), and two containers about half gallon size.

Divide into two teams. First player on each team fills his cup with water from the bucket, then places the leaking cup over his head and runs around a previously marked course. When he gets back to the beginning he pours into the empty container, whatever water is left in his cup then hands the empty cup to the next player. The team that fills their container first wins.

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SALT and PEPPER
This is a simple relay and best played in a swimming pool. Gather into two equal teams on opposite sides of the pool facing each other. One team is named SALT and the other team is PEPPER. SALT team members swim on the top when passing a PEPPER team member. PEPPER team members must swim under SALT when passing. The first people get into the water and hang onto the pool sides. On "GO" they swim to the opposite side and the first there gets a point for his or her team. When both players get out of the water the next two opponents can get in, but they must first wait for the GO signal.

*****
KILLER WHALE

This game is best played in a swimming pool. One person is IT, the KILLER WHALE. He/she stands outside the pool. Everyone else jumps in and can swim to any location except they cannot touch any of the sides of the pool. In fact, they must stay three feet away from the sides. The KILLER WHALE jumps in and swims leisurely. The KILLER WHALE cannot tag anyone yet until he or she yells, "KILLER WHALE" in which everyone should swim to the sides for safety. If anyone is touching the sides then the KILLER WHALE cannot tag them. If the KILLER WHALE tags anyone, then that person becomes the new KILLER WHALE. If the KILLER WHALE is not able to touch anyone then he or she must get out of the pool and start all over. Fun game!

*****
MARCO POLO

In Marco Polo you need at least 3 people. one of them is IT. Whoever is chosen to be IT has to close his/her eyes (cover with hands) and then count out loud numbers from 1 to 10. After IT has counted to 10, then IT begins to search for the other players with his or hers remaining closed. If the person that is IT wants to he/she can call out "Marco" the other players then must say "Polo" The Person who is IT searches for people and if IT tags someone then he/she becomes the new IT.

*****
SEAHORSES AND MERMAIDS


This game is played in the shallow end of a swimming pool. You need at least 5 people- 2 seahorses, 2 mermaids, and one caller, but the more people you have, the better.

The seahorses make a circle in the water and the mermaids stand behind the seahorses. The caller calls out "Mermaids", or "Seahorses". If the caller says "Mermaids", the mermaids must swim like a mermaid with legs together, clockwise around the circle and take their place behind the seahorse. The last mermaid in her place is out and so is her partner. If the caller says

"Seahorses", the seahorse must back out between the mermaid's fluke (legs), underwater. The seahorse must them swin clockwise arpund the circle, back under the fluke and stand up. The last seahorse in her place is out and her partner is out too. The last couple standing is the winner.

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TUNNEL TAG


This game is played in the shallow end of a pool. You need at least 3 people to play- the more the better. Choose one person as the tagger. The others try to avoid being tagged. If you are tagged you must stand still in the water with your legs spread apart. To get free, another player must swim through your legs. The last person tagged is the tagger in the next game.

*****

SHARKS AND MINNOWS

This swimming pool game is fun for a large group of kids to play. One person is chosen to be the "shark" and starts in the middle of the pool. All the other players are "minnows" and start out of the water on one side of the pool . The shark calls out "Minnows", and the minnows jump or dive into the water and try to swim to the other side without being tagged by the shark before they get out of the water. If they are tagged, they become sharks and stay in the water. The sharks call out "Minnows", and the game is played again until there is only one minnow left. This minnow is the winner and starts as the shark in the next game.

*****
LUCKY AND HIS RAINBOWS

A variation SHARKS AND MINNOWS (above). In this game, one player is Lucky and starts in the middle of the pool. The others are Rainbows and start on the side of the pool. Lucky closes his eyes and calls out a color. If a Rainbow is wearing that color, he must try to swim to the other side of the pool without being tagged by Lucky. If he is tagged he is out. The last rainbow is the winner

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SEAHORSE RACE

This game needs at least 3 people. One person is the judge and the others are seahorse jockeys. Each Jockey has an inner tube on and starts at one end of the pool. The judge says "go" and the seahorse jockeys race to the other end of the pool. The first one there is the winner.

This is a fun game to play using "noodle" type floating toys. Sit on them like you would sit on a horse. This game can also be played as a relay race if you have a lot of kids. Make two teams and stand at one end of the pool. When the judge says "go", one player from each team must jump into the water, get on the "seahorse" and race to the other end of the pool and back again. The jockey must get out of the water and hand his "seahorse" to the next player, who then jumps in and swims to the end and back. This continues until all the players on one team has a turn. The first team done is the winner.

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BALLOON SQUAT


This is a relay race which needs 2 teams with an equal amount of players. You also need enough water balloons for one for each player-and a few extra for mistakes. Make start and finish lines obout 20 feet apart. Place the water balloons in two piles at the starting line. Call out "go" and the first person on each team picks up their balloon and runs to the finish line. There, they must sit on their balloon and pop it and then run back to the start line. Then the next player grabs their balloon and does the same thing. If a player drops his balloon, or pops it on the way, he must go back to the start line and take a new balloon and start again. The first team to finish popping all their balloons is the winning team.

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