Super Summer Saturdays: Fun in the Pool

If your family is like mine, summer just isn't summer without plenty of time spent swimming. We actually have a backyard pool, which we love. Our relatives and friends often come over for cookouts and other get togethers. When everyone's here, you can bet that there are lots of fun games going on. For this Super Summer Saturday post, I'm going to share two of the games with you. I'll share even more in some future posts!

The first one requires a dog. Our Hershey simply knows it as "Game". If you ask her if she wants to play her game, she gets super excited and runs to her spot on the side of the pool. Then her human teammate (almost always me) stands on the diving board and asks her is she's ready. The game can't start until she answers that question. Sometimes we have to ask her more than once, but she always barks to let us know she's ready to begin. Then we run as fast as we can and jump from the diving board and while we're in midair, we throw a tennis ball to Hershey. This game couldn't be any simpler, but Hershey just adores it. She could play it all day. Try this game with your pooch!

This next game is also pretty simple. It's called Colors. One of my friends came up with the idea when we were in elementary. You can play it with as few as two people, but it is definitely better with a large group. To begin, you pick one person to be It. They will stand on the deck or sidewalk just outside of the pool. Make sure that they are standing with their back towards the pool. Everyone else gets in the water and stands or treads water along the edge closest to It. Then, It will select a category. Any category will do. We always used colors (hence the name of the game). It announces the category and everyone who is in the pool thinks of something that falls under that category (pink, for instance) but they don't say their choice out loud. Then, when everyone is ready, It begins naming things that fall under the named category. If It says something that someone has chosen, that person has to swim to the other side of the pool. If It hears them, they turn around and jump into the water to try and catch them. If the person makes it to the other side without being caught, It returns to the side of the pool to continue naming things until someone else escapes. If It catches the person, that person will become the new It, and the game starts over with a new category. This is a really fun and easy game for kids. Try it at your next pool party!