How to Enjoy Your Pool During Social Distancing

While spring and summer may look a little different than normal, it’s still important to get outside! Just because you’re social distancing doesn’t mean that your backyard activities have to take a hit. After all, the CDC has explained that coronavirus, or COVID-19, is not spread through pools or hot tubs as long as they are properly maintained and disinfected. (More on that here.)

With all the benefits that Vitamin D brings to your body and immune system, we’d argue that soaking up sunshine and fresh air is more important now than ever.  Not to mention, swimming is a great form of exercise to support cardiovascular health. Going outside for pool time can also help manage some of the stress and uncertainty during this time and support your mental health in addition to your physical health.

Pool Activities for the Whole Family

We’ve come up with a few fun pool games to share with you and your family. Need more ideas? Here’s a list of 40 pool games to continue the family bonding.

• Create an obstacle course race involving your pool. This can include as many or as little objects as you’d like and can be changed up to be easy or difficult depending on the racer’s skill sets. Have teams race to the tree in the backyard, then hula hoop for 10 seconds (if you drop it, you have to start the hula hooping over). Once you complete the hula hoop challenge, walk to the pool and jump in, grab a pool noodle and swim from one end of the pool to the other. Whoever finishes first is the winner and gets to come up with the next obstacle course.
• Boat Racing. For this activity, you can choose teams or play individually. Each team or person has 30 minutes to create a boat made of whatever supplies you have lying around the house (cardboard, colored paper, markers, etc). Make sure to name your boat! Once the time is up, teams will put their boats in the pool, and the one that stays afloat longest wins!
• Diving board contest. You can get as creative as you’d like with this one. Have contestants compete by jumping off the diving board one at a time with whatever jump the “judge” comes up with. It could be biggest splash, best belly flop, most creative dive, etc.
• The Invisible Bottle Game. For this game, you’ll split up into two teams and fill an empty clear 2-liter bottle (or water bottle) with pool water. Both teams will face away from the pool, while one person throws the bottle into the pool. When they hear the splash, they can turn around and try to find the clear bottle. Whoever finds it first is the winner.

These are just a few ideas of games to get you started, but pool time really opens up the door to get creative. We encourage you to think outside the box and invent games of your own. The sillier the better! During a difficult time like this, it’s important to stay positive, keep moving and lean on loved ones. Pool games are a sure fire way to take your mind off of current health concerns and focus on fun.

If you have concerns or questions around what’s safe in regards to your pool, we’ve put together a page that answers some of your questions, as well as sharing the benefits of utilizing your pool.