Pool weather has finally arrived and if you have your own personal pool you probably can’t wait to get it up and running. Although the pool is one of the best ways to cool down, get some exercise and have some fun during the long summer months, it can also become one of the most expensive ways to entertain. Between the cost of actually filling up your pool and maintaining it, you may find it hard to find the funds to upgrade the toys you use. This can lead to boredom with the children, which may cause your pool to go to waste. Of course, there are a few ways to cheat the price of pool toys, thanks to DIY options. Now, you can keep the excitement going all summer without spending a whole lot of money.
1. Pool Boats
Whether you have toddlers or older children creating a boat can be a great way to keep everyone entertained for hours on end. Boats offer a sense of wonder for younger children who may want to simply watch the boat float or throw it to see if it bob right back to the top of the water. Whereas older children may love to turn boats in a competition, which will allow them to compete over chores, TV time, or simply for the sheer joy of it. No matter, which way the toy goes, there’s a couple of fun ways to make a boat. The first is made with a simple kitchen sponge. You can great a cheap multipack to get started. Then, simply cut a straw up and attach it to the sponge with a felt or paper flag. Another option is to use some leftover corks from your last dinner party or whatever is lying around the house. These can be secured with a rubber band and you can use whatever you like to create the mast and sail. Kids can even get creative by trying to come up with their own methods of making a boat, which may become a great lesson for them.
2. DIY Buoy
If you’ve ever looked in a store for a buoy, then you were probably surprised by how much they actually cost. Luckily, you can make your own buoy without spending much of anything. In fact, all you need is an empty plastic bottle or jug. This can easily be found in most home’s recycling, which will allow you to upcycle your item. Once you have a few plastic items to work with, then try to find some form of string. Rope, yarn or even fishing wire will work for this portion of the task. Then, you simply tie the bottles together, leaving a bit of slack, of course. You can even use tape or waterproof paints to add life to the bottles, so they can easily be seen. Buoys will come in handy because they can help you mark off the deeper end of a pool for younger kids, or they can serve for sports or relay race purposes.
3. Raft
Although floating can be a lot of fun, sometimes you can wind up paying over $50 for one. By the time you buy enough to satisfy the whole family, you’ll be broke in no time. So, instead of buying the floating devices, try to make one for yourself. One of the easiest options is to tie a bunch of pool noodles together to create a raft that will fit several kids and will even allow the kids to push themselves around as if they are on an epic adventure. Of course, if you’re looking for more comfort and less fun, then you can easily make your own floaty chair by securing two noodles together in a circle. Then, add a third noodle as the back rest. You can do this with a hot glue gun, tape, or even zip ties, so you won’t have to spend a small fortune. Luckily, pool noodles don’t cost a whole lot, so you should be able to get away with both of these crafts cheaply, which will allow you to get more out of the summer time.
4. Pool Tennis
One way to really make pool time exciting is to incorporate a game like tennis. This is fairly easy to set up too and won’t cost you much. Basically, you start cutting a regular sized pool noodle in half. Then you create a loop, which is where the tennis head will be. Make sure you leave some room at the bottom for a handle though. You can secure the loop with tape or a zip tie to make things easier. Then, all you have to do is add some netting to the head. This is easy with hot glue, but you could also try staples if you have a good quality staple gun. Making the tennis racket is half the battle though. Now, all you need to do is grab a cheap net to secure across the pool and a simple pool ball or sponge. The kids will have a blast playing the sport and they’ll get drenched when the ball comes to them. Not to mention, you can always ditch the rackets later and use the net to play volleyball!
5. Pool Swords
If your kids are like most, then they probably love to use swords during play time. There’s plenty of sword items on the market when it comes to pool toys, but you probably won’t want to pay the price. Luckily, there’s a lot of options to choose from here. For starters, you can just give the kids a couple of pool noodles and let them have it. You can also choose a more creative approach my carving your pool noodles into old fashioned swords. If you can find water proof paint, then you can even make them look realistic. Your creativity is the limit here. One major trend this summer is transforming the noodles into lightsabers, which is sure to be a hit with your kids since the latest Star Wars movie was just released on DVD.
6. Racing Turtles
One great way to add to the fun of the pool is to create racing turtles. These adorable little turtles look incredible and are fun for the whole family. Basically, your start out with an empty soda bottle or a milk jug. You begin by cutting out the bottom, which will serve as the turtle’s shell. Once you have a few of these cut out then place them on some thicker foam. From there, you can draw out the shape of the turtle’s head, legs and tail. Once the cutting is complete then place glitter, rocks, marbles or anything else in the soda bottle or milk jug and then glue it down onto the turtle. Once this is complete, kids can decorate the turtle as they sit fit. Once everything is dry and ready to go then take the turtles out to the pool to see whose turtle races fastest and whose sinks to the bottom.
7. Board Games
Help promote logical thinking and spelling over the summer when you make your family’s favorite board games for the pool. For instance, you can easily start with scrabble. Take a bunch of sponges and print letters and numbers on them to create the scrabble pieces. You can use a pool noodle for privacy, so no one else can see your pieces. Memory is a perfect game for young swimmers and is definitely easy to recreate with the same sponge concept. You can also create the same effect for both games with thin pieces of foam. This same concept can be recreated for chess, checkers or even games like monopoly. With a little creativity and a lot of imagination, you should be able to find lots of board games that easily convert to water friendly editions.
8. Coins
One cheap toy that has been used by children for decades is the coin. All you have to do is toss the coins into the water and let the kids go after them. You may even want to use a variety of coins so the kids can make a game as to who can collect the highest amount. Apart from teaching kids how to search for items under water, it could be a great way to encourage kids to finally hold their breath under water or to even begin swimming under water. Coins can provide hours of entertainment too, especially if the children take turns being the person that tosses the coins and the collector of the coins.
9. Basketball
Your children will love incorporating basketball into the pool and it will help them become much healthier thanks to the resistance the water creates. Basketball is pretty easy to bring to the pool without having to spend a lot of money on the floating basketball hoop. All you have to is grab a basket or a bucket and wrap a pool noodle around it. This will create a floating basketball hoop that is perfect for all ages. You can even add height to the hoop by lifting it with a plastic bin or other lightweight material and wrapping a pool noodle around that. Once you have the hoop all set up then you’re good to go! Simply grab a pool ball or a real basketball and let the kids have a blast.
10. Clearance
Of course, if you run out of creative ideas then you may want to actually go back to shopping. Midway through the summer pool toys should be hitting the clearance shelves, which should allow you to buy something new and fun to keep everyone busy. You may even want to stock up for next year, so you’ll be ready to host even more fun afternoons for the kids and their friends. Although the clearance prices might not be as low as they could be in the upcoming months, if the price is still out of range then you can easily wait until back to school season to save even bigger. Clearance is at its best during the winter months though; however, you may have to look on websites in order to buy items at this time though. All the same, if you plan carefully, you should be set for lots of fun without the huge price tag.
Swim time is a great way to keep the kids active during the summer months and can be one of the best ways to make sure your children stay in shape. However, with pool toys on the rise in price these ten tips should help you keep up with your budget while giving your kids lots of things to play with in the pool.
