Swimming Pool & Backyard Fun

This idea is very easy and always a blast.
Invites: Send out your invites with the obvious tropical pictures of palm trees, hula dancers, and beach fun. Write the party information inside but why not try to also translate the party info using a Hawaiian dictionary found online.

Decorating is Easy: Tiki torches, shells on the tables, coconuts, pineapples, bright bold and tropical colors used for table cloths and napkins. Float some plastic or fresh flowers in the pool to add to the atmosphere.

Use a rubber raft or a child’s wading pool for a cooler.

Game Ideas for the Luau: The contestants have to put on a grass skirt and see who can hula-hoop the longest.

The long time popular limbo: All you need is a stick.

Attire: Hawaiian shirts, and greet everyone with aloha and a lei. Best (or worst) Hawaiian attire wins.

If you have a Ukulele, bring it out. Don’t forget the beach music.

A sophisticated variation of the Toga Party. This is a late afternoon & night event.
Invites: A basic white on white. Let your guests know that they are to wear light white attire.

Decorations: …you guessed it, white. The more candles around the better and will add to the atmosphere. Floating candles or lights are a nice touch. Try to protect the candle around your yard from any breeze. If you can find lights that can act as candles, that would be even better.

Music: Any music carrying the white theme will work such as; Michael Jackson’s “Black or White”, Barry White, or anything else along those lines. Maybe even some Jazz to add to the mood of the night.

A pirate theme with costumes and treasure hunt may be fun for a sunny afternoon.

Pool parties for the kids don’t necessarily need a theme for them to have a good time. A few structured games to get them going is all you will need, the kids usually take care of the rest.

Choose a person to be “it”. They stand in the middle of the pool. Players line up on one side of the pool and try and swim to the other side without being tagged. The players who are tagged hold hands with “it” and for the next round all the players holding hands try and tag the swimmers as they try and make it to the other end of the pool. Keep going until all players have been tagged – then choose another “it” and start again. Lots of fun!

Players form a large circle in the pool and scramble to collect ping-pong balls and place them in their container. Dump a large container of ping-pong balls in the middle of the players circle. Whoever collects the most balls wins! Have them collect them in different coloured laundry baskets or buckets that are placed on the edge of the pool. You can number the balls or have different colours and vary this game however you wish.

One member of the team volunteers to be the ‘catcher’. That person swims to one side of the pool and stands with his back turned towards the rest of the players. The other players in the meantime choose a color each. After sometime, the catcher confirms if every one has chosen a color. Then he calls out a color with his back still towards the rest of the team. The player with the color called out by the catcher has to swim across the pool to the other side as quietly as possible. If the catcher hears any one swimming, he has to turn around and tag the swimmer before he swims away to the other end of the pool.

This is a very enjoyable game that will pull even the most bored child back into the pool. In this game, a 2-liter bottle has to be filled with pool water. The bottle should have a white cap or a cap of the same color as the floor tiles of the pool. Any wrapper or sticker on the bottle has to be removed. The players are divided into two teams. Each team is lined up at each end of the pool, with their faces turned away from the pool. An adult, or one of the players who stands out of the pool, throws the bottle in the water. On hearing the splash, the players turn around and try to retrieve the bottle. Although it sounds a pretty simple game, the catch lies in the fact that it is very difficult to locate the bottle as it is devoid of any marking that would reveal its location on the floor of the pool.

These are just a few options and variations of pool games and theme parties. The only thing holding you back is your imagination so get out there and enjoy your pool and spa.