These games can be lots of fun! As Sonny says, always be sure to have an adult buddy nearby!

Marco Polo
This game goes back before I was a little fish. One person is chosen to be Marco. He or she goes or swims to one end of the pool, closes his or her eyes, counts to 10, and yells “Marco.” They should still be in the pool, not outside. All the other players in the pool respond "Polo." Marco has to try and catch one of the players who yells "Polo" by using the sound of his or her voice instead of eye sight. Players can yell as often as they like but should only respond once for each time Marco yells. If Marco calls "Fish out of water!" then anyone out of the water is the next Marco. If two or more people are all out of the water completely, the last person in the pool is the next Marco. Once Marco catches a person, then that person is now the next Marco.

Cannonball Contest
Have two groups: one for the cannonballs and one for a team of judges. The cannonball group lines up behind the diving board; each person attempts to make the biggest splash to get the highest vote. The judges are the voters and give each person a vote out of 10. Then the groups swap.

Olympics
Have all players line up. The lead player asks other players to perform a certain stroke. As the players swim past, the lead player assesses the beauty, style and technique of the stroke. Each one is graded from 1 to 10 and at the end of several rounds the scores are totaled and the winner announced.

40 Strokes
Choose a swimming course. Players line up at one end of the course. The first player swims across the course in any style he chooses. The second player then swims across the course in a different style. Each player then takes a turn swimming across the course without copying any of the prior strokes. Player positions change with each new round.

Cold Feet
Divide into two teams -- more if you have a lot of players. Choose one team to go first. Have someone watch the clock for sixty seconds. Have team one get into the pool. They can stand or sit. Say go and throw twenty large ice cubes in the pool and see who can take the most ice cubes out using only their feet during the sity second time frame. Then have the other teams try. The team who got the most out is the winner!

Fishy Under Water
This game should be played with 2 or 3 kids and an adult acting as judge. Both contestants must swim or lay down on the pool bottom while holding their breath. The first one up is the loser.

Shark
This game is usually played in the deep end of the pool. The shark is in the middle and all the other players line up on one end of the pool (outside or in). Each person has to cross the pool without getting tagged by the shark. Anyone who does becomes the shark’s helper. The remaining players keep crossing the pool back and forth until the last player is standing. He or she is the winner.

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