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Pool Boat Games

Excite kids of all ages with active, challenging pool games that allow them to be as physical, noisy and competitive as they choose. Encourage siblings to play on teams against other neighborhood children to help them learn how to communicate while having fun. Switch out team leaders when playing in groups to enable teenagers to practice leadership skills. You can even host an adult summer party for singles, pairing up potential couples and using boat games to help them get to know each other.

One-on-One Games
- Whether you're sending your own children outdoors to play or are hosting a birthday party and are responsible for chaperoning numerous youths, pool boat games are fun and relieve excess energy. Various games and activities are available to entertain active bodies and minds. For example, have each player climb inside a boat, line up at the shallow end and use a flotation noodle to paddle to the other end. To increase the level of challenge, have players hold a plastic spoon and egg in their mouths and take it to the other end without it falling off.
Team and Group Games
- If you're looking to entertain kids at a summer party or hosting an adult barbecue and searching for fun, creative ways to get guests meeting and interacting, pool games serve both purposes. Several games are available that allow players to be active and enjoy the feeling of competition. One of these requires that the group be split into teams. One team is in boats, deemed "battleships." The other team are called "submarines." Each team has a base against one wall. Battleships need to get across the pool to the other end without the "submarines" tagging them. Submarine teams must swim underwater.
Materials
- You can choose to use traditional blow-up boats or kayaks available at toy shops, retail chain superstores or pool shops to get the fun going, or use alternative toys that double as flotation devices and hold the applicable weight. Flotation noodles, inflatable rafts, inner tubes and swimming rings also serve the required purpose. If you need to blow up the materials, have an air pump nearby. Hand, battery-operated and electric pumps are available.
Safety Tips
- Before encouraging small or inexperienced children to play games in the pool, take a minute to have a safety conversation. Write rules down on a white board if need be to ensure easy reference. Examples of safety rules include no running on deck, no holding each other under water, no swimming behind step ladders and nothing loose dangling around the neck. Always apply sunscreen on kids, too.

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