Summer and water go together like peanut butter and jelly. Give your campers hours of fun with these aquatic games.
When we remember summers past, we think of a vast expanse of open water before us, dipping our toes in a lake or the ocean and feeling the chill of the depths. We remember easing ourselves in, each inch lapping higher and higher on our bodies until we were submerged and thoroughly cooled off.
When we think of swimming and picnics on the beach, it calls to mind reading in the sun under an umbrella and feeling the refreshing breeze off the water. It’s a memory that is synonymous with summer.
Now that we’re RV owners, we can go almost anywhere and enjoy the water, but with children and pets, we have others to watch out for. Our experiences with the water might change, but we can still have fun. Here are a few ideas how.
Diving for bottles
If your kids are older and they’re not afraid of diving, take advantage of it. Fill a plastic bottle with water – make sure there is no air in the bottle or else it could still float. Then have your kids close their eyes, and toss the bottle in the water so they can hear where it landed but not see it. Have them open their eyes and hunt for the bottle.
Collect seashells
Some beaches have a lot of seashells, but they’ve been broken by an endless barrage of feet trampling them. Hunt for whole seashells and see who can find the best shell. Once it’s found, turn it educational and have your children see who can find what creatures may have lived in it and where they typically reside. Add even more fun by having your kids come up with a story of how it ended up on the beach from its watery depths.
Race with a beach ball
For this one, give each kid their own beach ball, and start them in the water the same distance away from the shore. The objective is to be the first person to get to shore while pushing their ball in front of them. If they throw the ball, they’re disqualified. Add a bit more fun and fitness by making them swim while pushing the ball with their head.
Marco Polo
This one is a classic, but people play it with different rules. Select one person to be “it” and have the other people arranged around them. The “it” closes their eyes and calls “Marco,” to which everyone must respond “Polo.” The “it” tries to catch people based on sound alone. The other players can move around to avoid getting caught. Whoever is last to be tagged is the winner.
Submarine
This is like a race, except the difficulty comes from who can hold their breath the longest underwater. Everyone starts in the same area and then swims underwater to see who can go the farthest without surfacing for air.
Octopus
Similar to Marco Polo, this is a game of tag with the “it” person having their eyes open. The difference is when someone is tagged, they then hold hands with the other “it” person and both of them swim and try to catch more people. As more people are caught, they each take a hand and work as a single unit to catch even more people to add length to their octopus. The last person left outside the octopus’ unit is the winner.
Fish
This is a copy game. Each player takes turns calling on another player. The player who is chosen has to copy what the other person does. For instance, if the one person spins in a circle five times, the other must do the same. If they don’t complete the task in its entirety, they are awarded with one letter of the word “fish.” Whoever collects all of the letters of “fish” is eliminated. Whoever is left standing is the winner.
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