Summer is finally here! And what’s the cure for those blazing-hot Australian summers? A day at the pool, enjoying games and some cool and refreshing drinks that don’t come in a box (or bottle!) Act now though, while the summer season seems like a long time, the next thing you'll know, you'll be closing down the pool for the season again!

While jumping in the pool and floating around sounds like the perfect thing to do on a hot summer day, for the little ones, it’ll be fun for oh, maybe a full five minutes. While most adults view the pool as somewhere to unwind, relax, and restore energy, for the kids, it’s all about having fun and burning off their stored energy! So here are some fun games to keep the whole family occupied and happy the whole summer season.

If you have more than one kid at home (or if you have guests over), here’s a sneaky way of letting the kids burn off some energy while you go sit around in the shade. Hold a pool jumping contest! Sit back, relax, sip on a drink with a tiny umbrella and judge their graceful (and not so graceful) pool jumps and watch them wear themselves out.

For the beginners, we have the cannon ball, the Chuck Norris, and the long jump! All fairly simple to execute, but tough to master!

• Cannonball - Tuck your knees to your chest, wrap your arms around your legs, and see who makes the biggest splash!
• Chuck Norris - Kick boredom to the curb with this take on the iconic action star’s signature move! Of course some of the young ones might not know who Chuck Norris is, but just replace the name with someone more current. What’s more fun than a flying kick into the pool?
• The Long Jump - Simple and fun! Furthest distance wins! Keep track of the distance with a pool noodle (or if you don’t have one, a telepole will work in a pinch!)

Now things are getting interesting, these jumps take more finesse to execute and are a gem to look at when perfected!

• The Superman - It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Superman! See who can make the most graceful dive into the pool! Yes, bonus points for anyone with a cape, leggings, and swimsuit outside.
• The Rock God - Do a mid-air leg split while playing an air guitar on the way to the pool! Bonus points for anyone who can do an impression of their favorite rocker face!
• The Hadouken - Jump backwards into the pool while pretending to be hit in the gut with a fireball or video game projectile.

Now these tricks are not for little kids so exercise extreme caution when asking your contestants to do these. These are pretty tough but for seasoned pool jump veterans, these are just challenges waiting to be mastered. The harder the trick, the more chances for a fail! Which is just as entertaining as executing them perfectly.

• The Spiderman - Pretend to be your friendly neighborhood webslinger! Do a full split with both arms straight down pretending to shoot webbing from your wrists!
• Reverse Dive / Reverse superman - Do a graceful dive into the pool but in reverse! The front of the body should be facing the sky!
• The Forward Flip - For Grownups / Experts only! Try and do a flip into the pool and land feet first! Many will fail and fall into a belly flop, but those who can do it, will emerge as pool jump champion!

For more ways to jump into the pool, we have an infographic of 50 ways to jump into a swimming pool that you can check out here.

SEE ALSO: The Final Touches – Getting Everything Else Ready for Summer

Forget the sodas and juice boxes! If you want to cool down the kids (and adults too!) at the poolside, then here are some healthy drink ideas that are not only guaranteed to be refreshing, but they’re healthy as well!

Did you know that a bottle of commercial pink lemonade can contain up to 30 grams of sugar? That’s two heaping tablespoons of sugar right there or more than the recommended sugar intake set by the American Heart Association! With this homemade pink raspberry lemonade, you’re going to cut that sugar down by a lot! With only 5 grams of NATURAL sugar per glass, what’s not to love?

Ingredients (Serves 4-5)

• 4 cups water
• 2 cups raspberries
• 2 cups fresh squeezed lemon juice

Instructions:

Combine everything in a pitcher, muddle the raspberries (squish with a wooden ladle) and strain. Chill, then serve on ice!

Note: If it’s too tart for you, try adding a little bit of honey to sweeten it up!

Kids love strawberry milk! But the sad thing is, what we think of as a healthy beverage is chock-full of sugar! Make your own strawberry milk with just two ingredients and give them a healthy and refreshing treat for those fun poolside afternoons!

Ingredients (Serves 4-5)

• 1 Cup fresh strawberries
• 4 Cups water
• 4 Cups milk

Instructions:

Combine cut strawberries and milk in a saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil and keep stirring until the strawberries break down. Set aside and allow to cool down and chill.

For “Smooth” Strawberry Milk:

Run mixture through a fine mesh strainer then combine with milk, serve on ice.

For “Chunky” Strawberry Milk:

Skip the straining step and combine chilled mixture with milk, serve on ice.

For a strawberry “Milkshake” 

Pour the mixture into an ice cube tray and allow to freeze. When it’s time to serve, blend in a few cubes of the frozen strawberry mixture with some milk and you’re good to go!

Bottled soda? We like to call those bottled sugar water! Because that’s what they basically are, sugar, artificial flavorings and carbonated water. Make your own healthy sodas with just a couple of ingredients with Mr Pool Man’s fruit juice soda hacks!

Ingredients (Serves 1)

• Juice of Choice (Pick all-natural juice with no sugar added, common ones are grape juice, orange juice, and apple juice, you know, the ones usually served for breakfast? 100% pure juice works best)
• Soda Water

Instructions:

Combine 3 parts soda water with 1 part juice, mix it up, add ice and presto! Instant Fruit Juice Soda!

Tip: If you want to skip the juice part, fill up a glass with some chopped up fruit, add ice, and add soda water and let the kids break apart the fruits with their straws to release the flavors! Even better, let them pick the fruits let them top off their glasses with soda water!

SEE ALSO: How to Throw THE best Summer Pool Party

You can always spice up your summer pool afternoons with a bit of creativity and some homemade drinks! So whenever you feel bored (especially if you’re stuck at home) break out the pool toys, break out the drinks, and cool off in your own little tropical paradise at home! Thinking of having a pool built? We have listed all the question you need to ask your pool builder. Check out this link for more information.

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