Hosting an end-of-summer pool party is the perfect way to gather friends together to bid summertime farewell. Here are some great games, foods, and decorations to make your pool-party planning a breeze!

Games:

1. Noodle Jousting – You’ll need inflatable rafts and pool noodles. The objective is simple, line up on opposite ends of the pool afloat your rafts with pool noodle in hand. Charge! See who can knock their opponent off their raft.

2. Shark in the Water – This is a game of tag in the pool. The shark is “it” and runs around the pool trying to tag the other kids. The kids can jump in and out of the pool to avoid the shark but can’t stay out of the pool longer than 5 seconds. The next kid tagged becomes the shark.

3. Scavenger Hunt – Divide the kids up into teams and give them a list of items to scavenge for. Throw 2 pairs of several items in the pool – 2 coins, 2 bottles filled with pool water, 2 diving sticks, 2 toy boats, etc. See which team can find all of the items on their list first.

4. Duck Push – Line your players up at the end of the pool and give them each a rubber duck. The objective is to push their duck to the other end of pool using only their noses!

5. Pool Noodle Boat Race – There are lots of easy DIY tutorials for making pool noodle boats on the web. Look them up and make a few boats. For the race, line the kids up at the end of the pool and give each one a boat. They must blow their boat to the other end. No hands!

6. Popsicle – This is a game of freeze tag whereby when someone is tagged, they turn into a Popsicle, standing straight with arms above their head. Players swimming underwater cannot be tagged but can swim by and touch the popsicles, unfreezing them.

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