Lists

Best Games to Play at the Pool

Splash into fun with these games that are safe to play at the pool!

Summer is officially here! The school year is wrapped up, the temperatures have been getting hotter, and we’ve been spending more time at the pool. It’s been fun getting back into our summer routine. Part of that process has been making sure our pool and beach bags are packed and ready so we can just grab them and go.

One thing that’s nice to include in you pool bag is a game or two. Without fail it always seems there’s a kid or two that gets tired of the pool before the rest are ready to leave and having a game to play in the shade can be a nice way to pass the time!

I’ve rounded up a few of my favorite games perfect for pool or beach trips. These games are light, easy to fit in a bag, have few pieces, and will hold up to any splashes that might come their way!

We hope these poolside games will add a bit of extra fun to your summer routine!

Best Games to Play at the Pool

Seaside

This new game is a welcome addition to the outdoor games category! It checks all the boxes: easy to carry, simple rules, water resistant pieces, simple scoring, and fun to boot! Draw a token from the bag and decide which side’s actions to use to maximize your turn’s potential. I love that the winner is decided by players just stacking all their collected tokens and seeing whose is the highest. No need for paper or pencil! We love to see it!

Cinco Linko

The ultimate poolside game! This is a family must in my opinion. Clip it to your bag and take it with you on all your travels!

Hive Pocket

An excellent two player game you could technically play at the bottom of the pool if you wanted to! I don’t know why you’d want to do that, but it’s waterproof, so you do you! The Pocket version is super portable and comes with the ladybug and mosquito expansion tiles. The tile are about half as big as the standard game.

Kanoodle

Kanoodle makes a great waterproof brain teaser to entertain kid who’s taking a break in the shade. Try to fit all the pieces in the container or challenge yourself to build a pyramid!

Qwirkle Travel

This is a great version of the classic game to add into your summer bag! While the kids are splashing around, the adults can be chilling in the cabana playing the day away! The zip up case is so nice for storage too!

Honeycomb

These waterproof tiles won’t blow away in the wind. I love that there are multiple ways to play included in the rules. We’ve played them all and I can’t pick which is my favorite! Play it by the pool, play it on the sand!

Chicken!

A fast paced game of chance is perfect for an easy breezy day by the water! Players try to roll chickens in a race to 25 points. Games play in about 10 minutes and there’s no reading required. The dice and the cloth mat all store nicely in the tube for easy travel!

Plastic Playing Cards

I’m not opposed to bringing a real deck of cards to the pool, but if you’re looking for a waterproof deck a set of plastic cards can come in handy! This deck comes in a plastic travel case. Grab an inflatable game table and settle in for a great day of floating in the pool!

We also like this Bicycle deck of plastic cards!

Seek & Splash

This will keep them in the pool even longer and help them practice their underwater skills. Toss the gems into the water and hold up a gem card. Kids will dive down and search for the gems on the card as fast as they can. The best part about games like this is it gives you all the materials you need to get creative and come up with your own games too! There’s also a number version if you’re looking for fun ways to practice math this summer!