Water Games

Water safety must go hand-in-hand with water fun. Before you dive into these water games, please remember these rules:

• Always swim with a buddy.
• Always have adult supervision.
• Is the water a safe depth for swimming? Any underwater obstacles to be aware of? (rocks, logs, holes)
  
• Swim parallel to shore, never straight out into deep water.
• Dive only into deep water - never into rocky shallows or unknown water.
• Keep clear of boats, water skiers, sea-doos, etc.
• Use inflatables with care. Currents and wind can quickly carry you out into deep water.
• Keep the beach clean.
• Be sure to have a reach pole (or paddle) and life jackets ready for rescues.

Three or more people are needed for this swimming game. It can be played using colours, numbers, sports teams or anything else you can think of.

Determine the boundaries of your game. The games begins at one end and the opposite end is the safe zone (parallel to the shore please).

One person is "It". She stands with her back to the water (on the shore, the dock or diving board). The other players are in the water in a line close to the the person who is "It".

All players in the water think of a colour (or number, baseball team, etc.). They can whisper it to their neighbour or be on the honour system and keep quiet.

"It" starts by calling out colours. The other players listen for their colour, if it is called, they must quickly swim to the safe zone. As soon as "It" hears someone in the water, she turns around, jumps in and tries to catch the fleeing player.

If the player is touched before reaching the safe zone, that player becomes "It".

Jailer

Three or more swimmers are needed for this game, and boundaries need to be decided. Half the game area will be the jail, the other half is the home-free zone.

Choose a player to be the jailer. All others begin the game in jail.

The jailer patrols the middle of the game area where he can stand in the water. He walks back and forth keeping his eyes closed. All jailed players try to swim past the jailer without being heard. If the jailer hears someone making their escape, he points to the player and orders them back to the jail.

The games ends when all players make it out of jail.

Marco Polo

This is a definite classic swimming game. If you've never played (or if your too old to remember!), here's how it goes ...

You will need three or more players for this game. If you are not in a swimming pool, decide on the boundaries (i.e. from the dock to the sand bar). You need an area about the size of a large swimming pool.

One person is "It" and must keep their eyes shut (or blindfolded). "It" calls out "Marco!" All other players must shout out "Polo!" "It" keeps calling "Marco" as often as needed swimming in the direction of the nearest "Polo". The others try to swim away without attracting attention. No diving allowed.

"It" is allowed to call out "Submarine" and swim underwater with his eyes open. He must close his eyes when he resurfaces. You are allowed only two "Submarines" each time you are it - so save them for when you really need them!

As soon as "It" touches another person, that person becomes "It".

Shark!

Three or more players are needed to play Shark. Choose one swimmer to be the shark, the others are the bait. You will also need to decide on some boundaries for this game.

The Shark counts to ten while the bait fish scatter. The shark must swim with one hand on his hip, elbow up like the fin of a shark, while trying to tag the bait fish underwater. This shark is not out for blood, so please do not kick him!

Each player that is tagged turns into a shark and, with his/her fin showing, swims after the other bait fish. Any fish swimming out of bounds becomes a shark too. The game is over when all the bait has been caught.

Water May I

Have you ever played the classic game of Mother May I? Well, we've made it a litter wetter and turned it into a swimming game.

Set up some boundaries in your swimming area. "It" stands at one end and all others stand at the other end in a line.

"It" tells each player in turn to take a specified number of swimming strokes (i.e. "Bobby, you may swim four backstrokes" or "Sarah, you may swim five dog-paddles"). Each player must ask "Water May I?" before swimming, or they go back to the starting line. "It" may say "Yes, you may" and you proceed, or "It" may say "No, but you may swim sideways for two strokes".

The first person who swims to "It" gets to be "It" next.

Water Polo

For this pick-up game of water polo, you need an equal number of players on two teams, and a soft ball that will float (beach balls work very well, but keep in mind that they get carried away very easily in windy weather). The rules are flexible - decide before hand if touching the bottom and time-outs are allowed.

You will need some type of marker for the middle of your play area - buoys work well - and a goal (and goalie) is needed at each end. The two teams line up at opposite ends, when the game begins the ball is thrown into the middle of the play area.

Players from each team try to get the ball, pass it to a teammate, and score a goal. The ball must be 'dribbled' through the water by pushing it with one hand or any other part of the body. One-handed passes are also allowed. Only the goalies may handle the ball with both hands. The team with most goals wins.

Beach Games

Damp sandy beaches make perfect game boards - with no game pieces to lose! If your hands and feet have turned pruny from all those swimming games, then it's time to get out of the water and try some of these slightly drier beach games.

Note that most of these games originated as school playground games, using chalk to mark the boundaries.

Drip, Drip, Drop

Did I say "drier games"? For this beach game you will need a pail full of water - and everyone should be prepared to get wet!

Choose one player to be "It". All others sit in a circle on the sand. "It" slowly walks around the outside of the circle spilling a drip from the pail on each players head. Everyone says "drip" for each drip. Eventually "It" is going to dump the entire pail of water on someone's head shouting "drop"! It must then drop the pail and run as fast as he can around the circle. The wet player jumps up and runs around the circle in the opposite direction. The first person back to the empty space gets to sit down, and the person left standing is "It".

Refill the pail and start all over again!

Four Corners

Four Corners is a classic school yard game which can be easily turned into a beach game.

A very large square is drawn (approx. 25 feet, 8 m).

"It" stands in the middle, all other players stand in each of the four corners. "It" calls out "I want a corner - Give me yours" and points at one of the corners. All the corner players must run to another corner before "It" gets there. If "It" gets to a corner first, the player without a corner becomes the next "It".

• If you only have four players, a triangle may be used instead of a square.
• "It" closes their eyes. Each corner is assigned a number. "It" calls a number from 1 to 4 and children in that corner must sit down. If they don't sit down, they are 'out'. Repeat until there are 6-8 players left. Then redistribute them (two in each corner). When only four children left, put one child in each corner. Repeat until only one is left. The last person left is "It".

Sand Bull's-Eye

Draw a circle in the sand about the size of a large bike tire. You then need to draw another three circles in the middle, equal distances from each other, getting smaller and smaller (hence, a bull's-eye). From the outside, the rings are worth 2, 4, 6, and 10 points (in the center).

Make a starting line in the sand a good 10-12 paces away from your bull's eye.

Each player will need three small equal sized stones or sticks. Players take turns throwing all three stones at the bull's eye - you could choose to do this all at once, or one stone at a time. Add up the score after each turn (keep score in your head or keep a tally in the sand).

The first person to score 50 points wins.

Soccer Golf

Okay, I have to admit we made this game up - and it has become a favourite! We were kicking around a soccer ball on the beach with our kids and it had rolled into a hole in the sand (remnants of a sand castle). After that the kids kept trying to get the ball into the hole again - thus a game was born!

You can choose your tee-off spots from anywhere you wish. The kids liked to kick off from the driftwood and from the water's edge, where our husbands thought it was quite fun to kick the ball off from the bellies of their sunbathing wives! And don't forget to yell... "Fore!"

Wedge of the World

Draw a circle in the sand about the size of a big bicycle tire. Divide the circle into four equal wedges, then draw a smaller circle in the middle. This will be the centre of the world.

Find five playing pieces or markers (seashells, small rocks, or bits of driftwood) for each player.

Make a line in the sand about 10-12 paces away from the circle. The object of this game is to toss your playing pieces into each of the four wedges, and then land the last one in the centre of the world.

Players take turns, throwing one piece at a time. If your marker lands in a wedge where you already have a piece, or it lands in the middle before you have a piece in each wedge, you take it back and wait for your next turn.

The first person to land all five of their markers correctly wins.

Buoys

Need some buoys to mark off your play area for the water games mentioned above? These are fun and easy to make with your children before game day.
You will need:

• clean, empty plastic bottles with handles and lids (milk jugs work great)
• nylon rope
• scissors
• a weight for each buoy - a heavy rock or brick (or another jug filled with sand)

Peel off any labels on the jugs (so they do not come off in the water and pollute it). Measure the depth of the water where you would like the buoy to be (you can use your body as a measuring tape). Cut a piece of rope that will reach he bottom, giving yourself a bit extra to tie around both the jug and the rock. Attach one end of the rope to the jug handle and the other end of the rope to the rock, tying securely.

Now you simply drop the rocks into the water where you need a marker (i.e. for your goals in Water Polo, the safe zones in Colors and Jailer, etc.).