It is that time again. The weather is getting hot. The kids are out of school and each morning starts with, “Mommy, what are we going to do today?” Sound familiar? You are not alone! We have just the solution for you. A way to keep your kids cool while they have tons of fun. Drum roll please…. Enter the Inflatable Swimming Pool. Yes, they have been around for decades, but the products keep getting better. We have provided you with the top ten inflatable swimming pools available for purchase today, reviewing each in great detail. We have also made sure to find the safest, most affordable inflatable swimming pools on the market today. This list is constantly updated so check back if you can not make up your mid!
As a parent, it may seem like a never ending task, pulling your kids attention away from a screen long enough for them to get a bit of exercise to release energy and sun to feed Vitamin D into their little bodies! Apart from gadgets, lookout for the best inflatable swimming pools for family. With an inflatable swimming pool, your children gets a water park experience in your own backyard, plenty of fun within the boundaries of home and under your supervision. If you are looking for something a little more impressive than an inflatable pool, check out recommendations for the best inflatable water slides.
Quick Safety Note: It may seem like an inflatable pool is a great alternative to a swimming pool for children who cannot swim yet. THIS IS NOT THE CASE. Children in an inflatable pool require just as much, if not more, supervision. A child can drown in less than two inches of water and, a child who cannot swim is high risk for drowning no matter what depth the body of water he swims in. Please always keep your eyes on kids while in an inflatable swimming pool or hire a lifeguard to watch your children while you get your errands done.
If you are in Arizona, the valley area, contact us to set up private swim lessons and your child will be swimming in no time at all!
Before digging deeper into the details of which are the best inflatable swimming pools for families, we should consider the different array of fantastically fun activities you can arrange for your kids to play in the inflatable swimming pool. If you are purchasing an inflatable pool for the sole purpose of cooling your kids off in the summer, we have just the pool for you. If you are looking for an inflatable swimming pool with water features and activities included, we have some great suggestions for you, as well. In out ever-increasing digital based childcare world, it takes a lot to rip our kid’s attention away from the screen for long, so it is imperative you find an inflatable pool that will intrigue your child. We have plenty of wonderful, suggestions below.
The best types of activities for kids in an inflatable swimming pool are the ones that require little setup and encourage safe playtime. Games that encourage kids to be rough, like water polo and capture the flag, are too aggressive for young children and can be dangerous in a small area like an inflatable swimming pool. However, we have a list of some great, safe, easy to set up, activities that provide hours of entertainment and fun for your children while allowing parents to focus on supervision instead of mediation! Let us know which of these inflatable swimming pool games were a big hit with your children in the comment sections below!
The Beach Ball race is just a fun-filled activity that will make the children move their beach balls from one side of the pool to the other and back again. You could even split the kids up into teams and add rules to make the game more interesting. For example, a twist on the rules could involve not allowing the beach ball to lose contact with the surface of the water or only allowing the ball to change hands twice.
Our favorite disqualifier: If you splash mum, you’re out of there!
This version of the beach ball race in an inflatable pool is great for younger kids, as most inflatables are on the smaller side. However, we have listed some inflatable swimming pools that are accommodating enough for the movement of older, bigger, children and even adults.
If you are entertaining bigger children, think about incorporating a land race into the mix so the inflatable pool obstacle is only one leg of the challenge. Our family’s favorite way to use the inflatable pool as an obstacle in the beach ball race is to have each player start on one end of the pool, standing outside the pool. A beach ball sits on top of the water in front of each player. The players must move the beach ball to the other side of the pool, using only his or her breath! Once this challenge is complete, the player moves on to the next obstacle or passes the beach ball on to his teammate.
An example of another obstacle: The next player on the team is handed the beach ball, must set it on the grass in front of them. Then, using only water balloons, (no hands or feet!) must move the beach ball to the other side of the yard. There are a ton of creative ways to use a beach ball as a game prop and an inflatable pool makes these games so much more fun while keeping the kids cool at the same time!
Don’t forget to add beach balls to your cart when purchasing your inflatable swimming pool!
For a fun twist, play an after dark game with these glow balls that can be thrown around and played with just like beach balls!
Marco Polo is an old classic I can remember playing as a child. Although this is not my favorite choice because closing eyes in a pool, or even on ground, while chasing other children, sounds like a disaster waiting to happen, kids will be kids and this game will endure.
However, I have recently discovered two twists on the game, one that I will have my swim lesson kids try because it just sounds hilarious, and the other a recommendation from the CDC, an entity we hear a lot from in the post-pandemic world.
So, in the first version, one of the swimmers closes his eyes and calls out the name of any animal. The other children in the inflatable swimming pool have to make the noise that animal makes until the child who called out the name of the animal is able to tag another child, who subsequently becomes the ‘animal picker.’
As far as the latter CDC recommendation of game play, a way to play socially distanced Marco Polo is to have the child who closes his eye and calls out Marco, point to where he believes the other children who are responding Polo are. If he points to another child, that child must be honest and becomes the ‘Marco.’
Can you just imagine a bunch of three-year-olds ‘Mooing’ their heads off while the child with his eyes closed frantically points around the pool? What a great home video opportunity! For more ideas for socially distanced pool games, see NewJersey.com’s article, Socially distant pool games: 5 ways to have fun and be safe while swimming.
The opportunities for creative game play in an inflatable swimming pool, when you have ping pongs on hand, are endless! Here are my two favorite ways to use Ping-Pong balls to keep the kiddos entertained during an afternoon of playing in the inflatable pool.
Throw the ping pongs into the pool and ask the children to collect them. The child who collects the most ping pongs wins that round.
For this activity, each child gets a ping pong ball. At one end of the pool, each child places their ping pong ball in front of his waist, floating on the surface of the water. (Note: This game gets a lot more challenging when it is windy outside!)
Next, the children blow the ping pong balls to the opposite side of the pool, no hands allowed! Whichever child succeeds in moving his ping pong ball to the opposite side of the inflatable pool, using only his breath, wins the round.
Here is a link to a great deal on multi-colored ping pongs balls so you can play these games without mixing up the children’s ping pong balls!
When I was a child, diving toys were only sold as colorful rings. Living in Arizona, the stores would quickly sell out and my parents would improvise, throwing some pennies to the bottom of the pool. FETCH children! It seems a bit crude when I reminisce, but my sister and I spent hours retrieving these objects.
Kids have so many more options today. These diving toys are all guaranteed to make a lasting impression on your children. Who knows, maybe they grow up to write a blog and talk about their own memories with toys a little cooler than rusty old pennies!
In an inflatable swimming pool, even a shallow one, children love retrieving toys from the bottom. Encouraging your child to put their head under the water, open their eyes, and retrieve a toy is a great way to get your child ready for swim lessons. There are some amazing safety benefits of being able to open your eyes under water. If interested in learning more, check out Can You Open Your Eyes Underwater?
Today, diving toys come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Some look like little sea animals…fish, sharks, seahorses and more! Some diving toys torpedo a great distance under water before sinking to the bottom of the pool. Other diving toys spin rapidly as they sink to the bottom of the pool.
The creativity of diving toys has skyrocketed in recent years, which is great because it helps children get even more excited about diving and learning to swim.
For our pick on the best Dive Toys on the market today, see Best Dive Toys For You Little Swimmer.
Before purchasing one of our recommendations for the best inflatable swimming pools for family, there are some factors to consider. Each families needs are different so we have conveniently picked out the most important factors to consider when purchasing an inflatable swimming pool for family . Here are the factors we have rated the products on:
When deciding which of the best inflatable swimming pools for family to buy, there is no need to break the bank! No matter the feature you are looking for, there is an item out there that is plenty affordable. From high budget to low, there are some great quality pools on the market today.
Importantly, you will need to buy a pump separately when you buy an inflatable pool. For your convenience, the following is the best deal on Amazon:
Durability refers to how long the pool will last. We have only included products that will last you more than one summer. Taken into account is the material, the construction and manufacturing, and how well the product stands up to UV rays. Also, it is very important that these products are not too slippery as slip and falls could lead to injury.
Like durability, sturdiness refers to how well the product is made, and how well the product handles being full of water and kids all summer long! No one wants a pool that will pop a hole the first time it is used or a pool that can be ripped with a twig laying on the grass. While searching for the swimming pools you will encounter many of the pools that are very poor in quality. Thin material and stitching make it ineffective for proper use for your kids.
Children regard the swimming pool as their second home during summer so it is essential that the walls of an inflatable pool are able to withstand a bit of rough housing and lots of use.
This is hugely important. Pools will not get much use if they are a pain to inflate and deflate. In this category, we have also judged the portability of the pool as well as how easy the pool is to drain.
Dependent on performance during at-home testing, each inflatable swimming pool is assigned a specific ranking for each of the four categories listed above. All slides included on this list have received at least 3 fish in every category. Rankings are assigned using a scale of 1-5 fish, as outlined in the following table:
Here are out picks for the best inflatable swimming pool products on the market today, along with an in depth review of why each pool was selected for out list.
Hopefully, this buyers guide helps make your decision easier!
Here are out picks of the best inflatable swimming pools for family on the market today. (This list is frequently updated as new products are released and tested by us!)
This inflatable pool has it all. It’s one of the largest on the market, with the ability to accommodate infants, toddlers,(with an adult, obviously) 5-12 year olds, teenagers, and adults alike! This is the perfect product to place in your backyard for a summer pool party, as guests of all ages will be able to enjoy it!
Another great, full-family size option is the Perlecare inflatable pool. With almost a perfect rating on Amazon, we knew this product would deliver and it did! Receiving out Golden Fish rating, this was one of out favorite inflatable pools for family summer fun.
Amazon Reviewer: “We put a small slide in there and it instantly became a Waterpark in our front yard. It’s sturdy and does give in on him while he is trying to swim!”
3. Intex Inflatable Swimming Pool
Intex is an inflatable swim pool designed for a family with complete features. This is like an above ground hot tub, but you can inflate and deflate it. We love the features of this great inflatable pool.
This pool is equipped with four corner seats and backrests, as well as cup holders for each occupant. For kids, sippy cups are never far away, and for adults, you do not ever have to leave the pool to sip your summer cocktail. (Although we do recommend using plastic cups, and never glass bottles around any pool!)
In fact, here is out summer cocktail recommendation:
A great summer activity that the whole family will enjoy together is water activities. TrekPow inflatable outdoor swimming pool is a great option to enjoy water fun while in the comfort of your home. Your family will surely enjoy splashing around while spending quality time with each other.
The Sable inflatable, designed not only for adults and children, but also for infants and toddlers, is another great option. The pool accommodates 2 adults and 4 children.
3 rings inflatable swimming pool is designed for infants and toddlers.
One of the smaller pools on out list, it still has some awesome features.
Tip: Run the hose down the slide for adding slipping power!
The inflatable kiddie pool is designed for kids, but it is a family lounge pool. As it can accommodate kids, infants, toddlers, and children.
QPAU is a limited-edition swimming pool with a basketball hoop. Here are some more awesome features of this pool:
This product is solely designed for kids, toddlers, and babies. It is present in elephant designs with alphabets imprinted on it, along with the following features.
This product is designed exclusively for kids only. It comes with a slide, a ball roller, and a fountain arch. The fountain arc has a sprinkler function for more water feature fun! There are also two pool areas, for double the fun!