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Diving and Swimming Games

Organize some swimming and diving games for your child’s next pool party to ensure that everyone is entertained and getting involved. Swimming and diving games generally are designed for intermediate and advanced swimmers who are comfortable with diving and swimming in the deep end of the pool. Before starting any games, assess all participants&' abilities.

Steal the Bottle
- To play, you’ll need enough children for two teams of at least two players. Fill an empty two-liter bottle with pool water and cap it tightly. Make sure the label is peeled off to make it harder to spot. Set chairs on each end of the pool deck to act as the goals. Each team lines up on its side of the pool, and team members close their eyes. The referee tosses the bottle into the center of the pool and shouts, “Go.” The teams must dive and retrieve the bottle and attempt to carry it to the other team’s goal. A point is awarded for the team that gets the bottle into the chair. Play starts over and teams return to their own sides to await the referee.
Diving PIG
- Mimicking the classic basketball game, Diving PIG requires children to follow what the leader does. Children must line up at the diving board and watch the first person’s actions and sounds. Then each of the followers must exactly mimic the actions. If the copy is correct, there is no penalty, but if followers make an error, they earn a letter “P.” Then, the next person in line becomes the leader. Play continues until all but one person has earned all the letters to spell “PIG.” To keep the game fair and full of variety, players can only use a certain dive once per game.
Boss
- The “boss” sits on one side of the deep end, while the “employees” line up on the other side. The boss counts out, “1, 2, 3,” and the employees must jump into the water. While the employees are in mid-air, the boss calls out either “Jump” or “Dive.” The employees must try to obey while airborne. The players that make a mistake must sit out until there is only one person left, who then becomes the new boss.
Sharks and Minnows
- One player is the shark, and stands on one side of the pool. The minnows line up on the other side. On "Go," everyone jumps into the pool. The shark must try to tag one of the minnows, who is trying to reach the opposite side of the pool. Players can swim, twist and dive to stay away from the shark and touch the side of the pool, which is the safe zone. The player who is tagged first becomes the new shark.

Kids Games