Most people who have a swimming pool find it enjoyable enough to not need a special reason to dive in. The relaxation of basking in temperate water, or the invigoration of doing dives and laps, is enough to make the pool a prime domestic destination. But pulling off a pool cover in Phoenix and enjoying the water with your kids is more complicated than doing it on your own.
Ideas for Pool Time with Kids
Most parents spend pool time with their children for two related reasons: They love them immensely, and they want to help keep them safe once inside the pool’s perimeter safety fence. But when it comes to how pool time is spent, there are quite few other reasons for your kids to get excited about it. Here are five family pool time ideas for children of different ages:
1. Swimming Lessons from Mom and Dad
If you have a pool, there’s reason to think you’re a pretty good swimmer, probably one who took lessons on how to dive, tread water, and perform the classic strokes. So, why not teach your kids the basic elements of swimming, while enjoying a unique form of physical bonding? It will also help increase your children’s pool safety. They may not be ready to travel beyond the pool safety fence on their own, but the better they learn to swim, the safer they become.
2. Retrieve the Sunken Treasure of Coins
On a marvelously sunlit day, you raid your change jar, grab plenty of coins, and toss them into the pool. Then, your kids retrieve the currency, as it shimmers in the sunstruck water. The one who collects the most money wins — or there doesn’t have to be a winner. Either way, as long as enough quarters are involved, your kids should have a blast, and beg to do it again. If your children aren’t strong swimmers, it’s best to avoid playing this game in the deep end of a pool.
3. JAWS: Family-Friendly Pool Edition
If you enjoy cinematic creature features, you’ve probably seen the movie JAWS, in which a man-eating shark must be stopped before he turns the ocean red. Guess what? In this game, that shark is you. In the pool, you stay on a part of the wall that is parallel to a wall where your kids are. How close can they swim to you, and still make it back to their wall before you catch them? Part of the fun is getting caught, assuming they’re only devoured by a tickling session.
4. Pool Safety 101: Explaining the Pool
This activity isn’t what most kids call fun, but it can increase your children’s safety by making them more familiar with the pool. For example, your small children may notice the safety fence, drain, and water returns of your pool without knowing what they do. The deep end of the pool may also be a mystery. Giving kids a once over of highly visible pool parts, most of which don’t directly add to the pool experience, can help curb their curiosity in a healthy way.
5. Pool Basketball and Volleyball
Do your children enjoy classic sports? Some games are easy to translate to a swimming pool setting, particularly basketball and volleyball. Floating basketball hoops are usually a breeze to use; just inflate them if they need it, set them on the water, and pass the ball to your child for the first shot. Floating volleyball nets are just as easy to set in motion. To be enjoyed to the fullest, these games require advanced motor skills, making them great for kids 10 and older.
Pool Safety First, Funtime Second
Spending family time in the pool with the activities above reinforces to kids that the pool is a place where fun happens, which can lead small children to try to return to the water, whether parents are present or not. This is why it’s important to outfit a family pool setting with a safety fence barrier that helps keep kids from entering the water alone.
If you need a pool safety fence or protective pool cover in phoenix to help ensure that your pool remains the site of good memories and not unfortunate accidents, contact A Safe Pool today to schedule a free swimming pool inspection and price estimate.
