Hobbies And Interests
Scavenger Hunt
Do an underwater scavenger hunt. Determine how many people will be playing and break into two or three groups or work as individuals. Gather two or three of several different items, such as dive rings, sticks, coins or small heavy plastic toys. Scatter these around the pool and challenge everyone to be the first person or team to collect one of each item. No list is needed, just tell everyone how many items they need to find.
Marco Polo
Play the classic game of Marco Polo. This is perfect for large groups, as well as just a few people. One person is "it." He closes his eyes and counts to ten. Then, with his eyes closed, the person who is "it" tries to find and tag someone else by saying "Marco" to which everyone must respond "Polo." At any point the person who is "it" can also say "Fish out of water" and anyone who's outside of the pool is automatically "it."
Relay Races
Water relay races are a great way to keep everyone active and having fun. Try doing races where you try different kinds of stokes such as swimming backward, walking on your hands, doing somersaults in the water, riding a pool noodle or crawling along the bottom.
Watermelon Push
Place a whole watermelon in the pool so it rests on the bottom of the pool. Then try to push the watermelon across the bottom of the pool without using your feet. Younger children who can't swim underwater can use their feet instead of their hands and push it across the shallow end.
Centipede Crawl
This is a great game for two groups to play. Have the strongest swimmers in the front. Have the next person in each line grab the lead swimmer's ankles with one hand and use the other hand to paddle. The rest of the swimmers do the same to the swimmer in front of them, and the whole chain "centipede" has to swim across the pool. The first team to make it across wins the game. Or just do it over and over again for fun, switching positions as lead swimmer.