The summer months are here and so are rising temperatures. Whether you’re on vacation or just need some fun ideas to make the heat a little more tolerable, these activities will stop everyone from thinking about too much sun and start thinking about beating the heat. With lawn sprinklers, kiddie pools, and a few other items, you can have a backyard pool party that will be the hit of the neighborhood!

Pool Party Without the Pool

Every little kid’s dream is to have a pool in their backyard. For most families, however, this isn’t a reality. On days when it’s just too unbearable to be outside without cooling off in the water, throw a pool party – but without the pool! Punchbowl offers a variety of fun, playful pool party invitations that can be customized to fit your color scheme, event details and more.

What you’ll need for activities:

• Lawn sprinklers (at least two)
• Bottle of bubble bath
• Three kiddie pools
• Three large bags of sand (found at any hardware store, fine grade)
• Beach towels for all guests
• Sand buckets, toys and beach balls (found at most dollar stores)
• A roll of industrial plastic (used for moving/storage and can be found at any hardware store)
• Four camping tent stakes (found at any outdoor goods store)
• A kid-friendly yard with grass
• Dry-erase board and marker
• Two lawn chairs
• Mop or broom

Slip N’ Slide: First things first, put on your work gloves and clean up your yard. Make sure there isn’t anything laying around that could be harmful to a group of kids (think gardening shears and fertilizer). Establish where you can set up the activities so that there will be mostly sun while everyone is outside. If the yard has a hill or sloping edge, use that as your starting point for setting up. Unroll the plastic down the hill (flat grassy areas work just fine too!) for at least 18′ and insert a stake (all the way so it’s flush with the ground) at each corner to ensure the plastic won’t move or slide around. Position the sprinklers at each end, on opposite sides. Wet the entire length of plastic and liberally sprinkle with bubble bath. You now have a homemade slip n’ slide for all the kids to whiz down!

Beach Volleyball: Set up two kiddie pools across from each other with about 4′ in between them. Fill with water and let the water sit for a few hours to warm up. Position the lawn chairs in between the pools, with the backs facing each other. Balance the broom or mop across the chairs (for the “net” – an imagination IS required). Have the kids rotate, two at a time in each pool, on their knees, and play volleyball with a beach ball. Take score on the dry-erase board and award prizes (like a bucket with toys) to the winners at the end of the party.

Sandcastles: Fill the third kiddie pool with sand and slightly dampen. Scatter the buckets and toys throughout the sand and challenge all the kids to build sand castles with a prize going to the most original. Send them through the sprinkler to clean up and cover the sand “box” with some of the leftover plastic from the slip n’ slide at the end of the party. Your kids will be able to play in it during the remainder of the summer. Note: Although I don’t currently own one, I’m a fan of the Little Tikes’ classic Turtle Sandbox, available at Toys R Us for around $35-$40. It has a cover!

Hints: Roll up the beach towels and hand out to kids throughout the day as they get chilly. Having sunscreen on hand is a good idea too, especially if the kids are constantly getting wet and wiping off their prior application.

I hope you enjoyed this fun ideas for a backyard pool party!  Tips and most images courtesy of Punchbowl.  I’ll be posting more tips in the next week or so, and will be receiving a complimentary Punchbowl membership to use for planning events and sending e-cards.  I’m hoping they will let me call myself a Punchbowl Mom! lol