You can already feel it in the air, the days of lounging around the pool and doing unlimited cannonballs is coming to an end. It seems just like yesterday when we posted our first day of summer blog post! With the end of summer fast approaching, here are some party ideas to make sure that you end the season with a bang with a party to remember!

While the fate of the Summer Olympics 2021 in Japan still unknown because of the current pandemic, we can still hold our own version of the summer Olympics in our home pools before the season ends!

• Pool Noodle Games - The humble pool noodle is probably the most versatile toy you can have for your pool (and not to mention ultra-cheap). You can do mini sporting events centered around your pool noodles like jousting, fencing, and even construct your own pool noodle boats!
• Ultimate pool scavenger hunt - The day before your party, hide stuff all around the yard (nothing inside the house, you wouldn’t want a bunch of wet kids running around the house!) and in the middle of one of the activities, quickly announce an “emergency scavenger hunt” and watch them scramble around! As an added incentive, the winning team can have their “medals” as having the first pick of your healthy poolside snacks, just make sure there’s enough for everyone!
• Don’t have any pool toys or floats? You can still do a pool jump competition (our own version of the Olympic diving competition) and assign points depending on the difficulty and the execution of the jump!
• Shark in the water - This is basically “Tag!” in the pool! “It” becomes the shard and tries to “bite” or tag the other players in the pool. The first one to get bitten becomes “it” the next round, but as a twist, anyone who gets tagged has to leave the pool and wait until the next round. Players can climb out of the pool to get away, but only for a maximum of 5 seconds. The shark cannot leave the pool for any reason.

Pool parties aren’t just about having fun in the pool but also fun above and around it! Make it a regular swimming day, but load up poolside with some amazing food ideas!

• A DIY-Hotdog Bar - Create a table with pre-cooked hotdogs, different types of buns, different sauces and toppings and have the guests create their own hotdog sandwiches!
• A Grill-your-own station - This awesome poolside hack isn’t only fun, but it frees the host from standing in front of the grill the entire time! (Unless of course, that’s your thing). Prepare some simple grillables like sausages and burgers and have the guests cook their own food when they’re hungry. Or if you’d like a break from all of the games, you can “volunteer” to be the martyr and cook the food and watch them run and jump around the pool.

An unlimited bottle bar - We mentioned this in our recycling pool toys article and this would be a great addition to any summer pool party. Simply take an old inflatable pool, fill it with ice and you have your very own giant cooler that you can fill up with different bottled drinks!

With the pandemic, chances are high that the kids missed summer camp this year but that shouldn’t stop you from holding your own summer camp right at home, I mean, you already have all of the essentials right there! You have your lake (the pool), you have the campgrounds (the yard) and you even have a bonfire, that is if you’ve built your own firepit, if you haven’t, then you can check our guide here to build your own! It’s not too late and it’s perfect for the coming cooler days! To have your own summer camp at home, have the kids help build the tent, do some musical activities around the bonfire, cook your own smores, have some family card games and more! And if there are too many bugs outside, the simply set up the tent inside the living room! Problem solved! As for the outdoor activities involved with summer camp, well, you have your swimming pool out there and the choices for activities and games are almost unlimited!

Although this may involve moving around the flatscreen or borrowing a projector somewhere, having a poolside movie night is an excellent way to end the summer. If you’re having guests over, have them bring their favorite movie and have a random drawing of which movie will be shown, this makes it interesting for everyone (and fair!) and makes for the perfect end for the summer. Can you imagine it? Floating or lounging around the pool with an icy drink, the air starting to cool and a movie playing on the flatscreen or projector? Perfection right?

Although the summer is ending, it doesn’t mean that your pool usage days are over! Here at Mr Pool Man, you can virtually extend the season with the use of a pool heater or a pool heat pump! Depending on where you are in Australia, a good pool heat pump can extend your summer swimming season by a few months (or totally remove downtime altogether!). Interested in learning more about pool heating options? Here are a couple of interesting reads that we’ve prepared over the years.

• Read more about the benefits of a pool heat pump over your standard pool heaters.
• Interested in learning how it works? We’ve prepared an in-depth guide on how pool heat pumps work.
• We also have a list of the best swimming pool heaters to help you make your decision much easier!
• And of course, End your Summer with a Splash!

Once the inevitable rolls in and it’s already getting too chilly to enjoy your pool, then it’s time to put your pool to bed for winter! This is an important step to ensure that once summer rolls in the next year, you’ll have a real easy time getting your pool summer-ready again! Read more in our complete guide to winterizing your pool.