20 Great Ideas for Throwing a Pool Party for Kids

Kids enjoy different kinds of parties, but during the summer, a party by the pool can be the most fun and exciting event for them, as a pool enables them to play freely while also not being bothered by the heat of the summer sun. However, a pool party can be quite difficult to organize if you don’t really know what to do. But, by following several tips and ideas, you will be able to pull off an enjoyable party for your child and his or her friends. Here are 20 great ideas for throwing a pool party for kids.

Choose a Theme for the Party

swimming pool

The first thing you need to do when it comes to planning a pool party for kids is to pick a theme, as a theme would make the event more fun for the guests. If it is going to be a birthday pool party, you should ask the celebrant what he or she likes, which can be TV shows, movies, cartoons, games, or others. Then, you can choose the theme based on the celebrant’s favorites. Typical pool parties that are held during the summer usually have themes that are related to beaches, islands, and Hawaiian decorations. But for pool parties intended to be enjoyed by kids, you can take liberties with the themes you can pick.

Pick a Simple Venue

The simplest venue is usually enough for kids, as long as the venue is properly decorated with your chosen theme. There are plenty of event places that have pools in them, and you wouldn’t have difficulties finding them since you can already search for them online. But before you choose a specific event place, you must first make sure that the features and amenities of the place are suitable for a pool party for kids. Of course, for safety purposes, the pool should be kid-friendly, meaning that it doesn’t have an area that is too deep for children.

Check Reviews for Venues or Event Places

popsicle inflatable

In order for you to know which venue or event places with pools are considered the best, you should check reviews that are written by previous clients or customers online. These reviews would typically give you almost everything you need to know more about various event places near you, from their amenities to their pros and cons.

Create a Menu that Kids Will Like

Once you have decided on where the party will take place, you can then create a menu that has dishes and meals that kids will like. Fortunately, kids aren’t too keen on fancy foods, as they would much rather prefer simple and tasty dishes that they can eat easily. Some of the simplest food items that you can serve during the party include burgers, fries, mac and cheese, and cookies. These food items can also be enjoyed by adult guests, so you wouldn’t have to worry about serving a separate meal for them.

You Can Decide to Prepare the Menu or Hire Catering

burger and fries

If you have cooking skills and are experienced in preparing large batches of food, then you can opt to prepare the dishes on the menu yourself. However, if you don’t have ample cooking skills, you can just hire a catering business that will cook and prepare the dishes you’ve chosen for the party. Keep in mind that hiring for catering is much more expensive than preparing the food for the event yourself. But it would also take a lot of effort to cook the dishes or meals alone, although you can ask friends or family members to help you with cooking.

Rent Tables and Chairs for the Party

If you don’t want to spend a lot of money on buying chairs and tables, which would then become a problem storage-wise for your house after the party, then you can just rent tables and chairs from party rental businesses or from the event place that you have also rented. You should have enough tables and chairs for all of your guests for the party, but make sure that you have more of them so that you can also accommodate people that your guests may have invited. For tables and chairs, it would be better to have an excess of them so that you wouldn’t worry about not having enough of them once the party starts.

Send Fun Invitations

party

To make the guests feel more excited about the event, you can send them fun invitation cards that are decorated with colorful artwork. If you have skills and knowledge in design, you can design the invitation cards on your own. But if you don’t have the skills to create invitation cards, you can just hire a designer to make the cards for you.

While having uniquely designed invitation cards are appealing, they can be quite expensive since hiring a designer and printing high-quality cards can be pricey. If you want to save money, you can just buy pre-made invitation cards online or in physical stores, although you have a higher chance of being able to buy the cards in bulk online.

Set Pool Rules for the Safety of the Kids

Once the party starts, it can be quite difficult to monitor kids that are in the pool. Even if the pool is shallow and kid-friendly, accidents can still occur. To prevent unfortunate events from happening during the party, you should set pool rules and have them printed and placed near the pool. Some kids wouldn’t be able to read or understand the rules, so it is important for their parents to guide and teach them what not to do while in the pool.

Have Adults Act as Lifeguards

green inflatable ring

In order to further ensure the safety of the kids in the pool, there should be at least two adults that will act as lifeguards for the kids. These lifeguards should have knowledge of CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) so that they can help during emergency situations. You can easily learn CPR through online videos so that you can act as one of the two lifeguards by the pool. The other lifeguard can be the guests of the party, or you can just hire a lifeguard who will most likely have more knowledge about CPR and rescuing kids during emergencies.

Provide Extra Towels

Because it is a pool party, it is already expected that the guests would bring towels with them to dry themselves after getting out of the pool. However, the kids would sometimes get the towels too wet because of frequent use or due to accidentally soaking the towel in the pool. So, if the towels are already too wet, you can give them extra towels. These extra towels can already be a souvenir for the party, or you can just let them borrow and return the items.

Give Sunscreen to Guests

woman applying sunscreen

To protect the guests’ skin from harsh sunlight, which can cause painful sunburn, you should offer sunscreen lotion to them whenever they need it. Most of your guests would most likely have sunscreen ready before they go to your party, but the problem with sunscreen is that they need to be applied every two hours for optimal protection. So, when they run out of sunscreen after a few hours, at least you will have extra bottles or packs of sunscreen for them to use.

Offer Life Jackets to Kids

Another safety idea that you can implement at the pool party is offering life jackets to kids, especially to those that don’t really know how to swim. The life jackets that you provide should be in the right sizes, so you should buy jackets that are suitable for toddlers and kids. Fortunately, buying life jackets for kids is very easy nowadays, as there are already standard sizes for children that you can conveniently buy online or in physical stores.

Have Slippers Ready to Prevent Slipping

rubber slippers

A problem with common swimming pools is that their sides tend to have slippery surfaces. So, if you have active kids running around the sides of the pool, there is a high chance that they will slip, which can then lead to wounds or bruises. To prevent this from happening, you should have rubber slippers ready by the pool so that kids can wear those for safety. Rubber slippers are very affordable (depending on the brand), so you wouldn’t have difficulties buying pairs in bulk.

Decorate the Pool with Floats and Inflatables

Floats and inflatables are must-haves if you are going to host a pool party for kids, as these toys are a way for kids to have more fun in the pool while also being able to use the toys to make the kids float and rest for a little bit without going out of the pool. The most popular inflatable is the ring float which has a hole at the center that kids can slip through so that they can use the float as a life jacket. But you can also add dolphin inflatables, banana inflatables, slide inflatables, and other inflatable toys for more fun and enjoyment.

Have a Schedule of Fun Activities

people playing sack race

Besides swimming in the pool, a pool party for kids should also consist of fun games and activities that they can participate in. These activities can be simple games like bring me, tug of war, sack race, and tag, but you can also organize board game tournaments that can help improve the kids’ thinking skills. These fun activities can be organized so that kids will always have fun even if they are not in the pool.

Give Awesome Prizes

Kids would definitely have more energy to play games if there are awesome prizes involved. These prizes can be simple gift packs that contain chocolates and candies, or they can be gift boxes that have toys and figures inside. If you have the budget, you may even add video consoles like the Nintendo Switch as a prize for the more difficult and complex games that you organize during the party.

Get a Bucket or Bowl of Snacks

bowls filled with candies

Aside from the main meals or dishes that guests can eat at the pool party, you may also offer a bucket or bowl that is filled with snacks like candies and chips. These snacks can also add to the fun of the pool party, as kids love eating different kinds of snacks while talking or playing with friends. What’s also great about snacks is that they are a “grab and go” kind of food, as they can be eaten while standing, walking, or sitting, and because of how active kids can be, snacks can be their favorite food.

Host Shows

In addition to swimming and participating in activities or games, kids may also be able to watch live shows during the pool party. Some of the shows you can host include magic shows, puppet shows, and talent showcases. Of course, if you want the show to look professionally crafted or produced, you should hire people that have skills and knowledge in putting on a show for kids. Magicians are usually the popular showmen for birthday parties, but puppeteers are also good choices if you want something different for your event.

Give Souvenirs or Party Favors

different kinds of inflatable toys

To make the party memorable, you should give souvenirs or party favors that can last for a long time or can be used for various purposes. So, these souvenirs should be the ones that can be displayed or have uses at home or outdoors. A few of the best souvenirs that you can give for a pool party include towels, inflatable toys, and rubber slides.

Hire a Host to Make the Party Livelier

As the host of the party, you should make it as fun and as enjoyable as possible for the kids. If you feel like you don’t have all the energy to host and organize a party for hours, you can just hire a party host or organizer that will be responsible for making the party cohesive and on schedule.

A pool party is one of the most fun kinds of parties that kids can truly enjoy, although it is also one of the most difficult to organize. Follow the tips or ideas we have provided above so that you can host and organize the best party for your child and his or her guests.

You may also read our Ultimate Guide to Throwing a Kids Birthday Party if you need more ideas on how to throw a great party for kids.