Aquanaut swimming games

We played a lot of different games in the pool to help reinforce their swimming skills and just to have fun.  Below are the different games.

Underwater Kim’s Game

Played as usual, except the items are located at the bottom of the pool.

Battleships and Submarines

Needed:

•  Two “teams” of players

How to play:

Divide a group of several people into two teams. Each team has a “base” against the wall of the pool, opposite each other. When the game starts, the battleship team comes off the wall and taunts the submarines into chasing them. The submarines push off when ready, swimming underwater and tries to touch/tag the battleships before the battleships reach base. If the submarine is successful, the battleship switches sides (and the submarine gets a free walk/swim back). If the submarine is unsuccessful, the submarine must swim back to its side. However, if the submarine has to come up for air and the battleship splashes the submarine, then the submarine switches sides! The point of the game is to try and get everyone on your team.

This one was inspired by 35 fresh swimming pool games for the summer.

Duck Thrust

Needed:

• several rubber duckies
• 3 or more players

How to play:

Put 3-4 players at one end of the pool and give them one rubber duckie apiece. When you say go, they must use their nose to push the duck to the other end of the pool. They can also “blow” the duck forward; they just can’t bite the duck and swim to the other end with it in their mouths; nor can they touch their duck with their hands or feet.

Further, the players can “distract” the other players by splashing water in their faces or splashing water toward their ducks to knock them backward. They just can’t actually TOUCH the other players or the other players’ ducks.

The first one to get his duck to touch the other end of the pool (obeying the rules) is the winner.

Gator/Sharks & Minnows

Needed:

• a fairly large group of players

How to play:

Have one person designated as the “gator.” He or she treads water in the DEEP END of the pool while all other participants are standing on the side. The leader will then yell “gator!” and at that point, the players standing on the side of the pool have 30 seconds to successfully jump in, swim to the other side of the pool, and get out without being tagged by the gator.

Anyone who is tagged in the first round has to join ranks with the “gator” and try to tag the swimmers in the next round(s). The game goes until there is only one person who has not been tagged.

No jumping on the “gator.”

Crocodile Crossing (aka  “Colors” or “Color Blind”)

Needed:

• three or more players

How to play:

All players but one huddle together. Each picks a type of fish (goldfish, perch; younger kids may want to pick colors instead), then lines up along a wall of the pool. The remaining player, the crocodile, stands in the middle of the pool with her back to the others and begins to call out fish in quick succession. When players hear their fish, they begin to swim — underwater or above, but as quietly as possible — to the other side. If the croc hears or feels someone moving (no turning around to look), she tries to catch him before he reaches the safety of the other side. If he’s caught, he becomes the next hungry beast.

A Different Kind of Leapfrog

Needed:

• 4-8  players

How to play:

2 teams (max. 4 players each) compete against each other. One team is on each side of the pool, standing in chest-high water with their legs spread apart. The last player must dive and swim through the legs of his teammates, stand and spread his legs. Then the next player goes. The winning team is the team that reaches the other side first.

Sharks & Jets

Needed:

• three or more players
• whistle

How to play:

Two teams, the Sharks and the Jets, line up opposite one another in the middle of the shallow end, with 5 feet of open water between them. A referee on the side blows the whistle and yells, “Sharks!” or “Jets!” That team must turn and sprint toward its side of the pool, with the other team in hot pursuit. A player tagged by a pursuing Shark or Jet joins the other team.

The referee can let the chase continue all the way to the end of the pool–or he can sound the whistle anytime, shout out the other team’s name, and turn the pursuers into the pursued.