Pool Party Games for Adults That Stay in Standing Depth

Float races, beach ball games and a quiz from the pool edge, all alcohol-free and all in standing depth.

Pool Party Games for Adults That Stay in Standing Depth

  1. Float SlalomAnchor three floating markers in a line down the shallow end. Racers sit on a float and paddle a zigzag round all three and back, against the clock. Touching a marker adds five seconds. Run it as a team time, so nobody is timed alone. Stay where everyone can stand, with one guest named as water watcher on the deck. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 15 min. Props: a pool float and three floating markers.
  2. Float Paddle RaceRacers sit on a pool float and paddle with their hands across the width of the shallow end. Touch the wall, turn the float and paddle back. Anyone who slides off stands up, climbs back on where they are and carries on. Stay where everyone can stand, with one guest named as water watcher on the deck. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 10 min. Props: a pool float each.
  3. Three-Touch Beach Ball VolleySame rope, new rule: the ball has to be touched by three different players before it crosses, and the third touch must go over. A ball that crosses early is the other side's point. It forces a team to pass to its quietest player. Stay where everyone can stand, with one guest named as water watcher on the deck. Players: 6 to 12. Time: 15 min. Props: a rope and a beach ball.

Next step

How it works

Most pool party games for adults are drinking games or breath-holding contests, and this list has neither. Every water game stays where everyone can stand, and each one names a water watcher on the deck.

Read the full guide

Start dry, then get in

Open with Guess the Water Temperature while people arrive, then choose Float races and relays in the All games menu and press Pick 3 new games. Give the watcher's job to a new guest for each game. Water safety guidance says no alcohol before or while swimming or supervising swimmers.

No pool this year?

Dry games for a summer party holds summer party games for adults that need a lawn or a deck and a tub of ice water at most, such as Lawn Chair Beach Ball Volley and Marbles in the Ice Bucket.

Tips
  • Agree one rule before the first game: feet first, every time, and nobody gets in alone.
  • Keep glass off the deck; plastic cups do every job in these games.

Questions and answers

What pool games work for adults who are not strong swimmers?

All of them: every water game here is played standing in the shallow end. Noodle Post Ring Toss, Floating Jack Bocce and Stand-Up Synchro need no more than wading, and the dry set needs no water at all.

How do you play volleyball in a pool without a net?

Tie a rope across the shallow end at head height and use a beach ball. Standing Water Volleyball to Seven plays rally scoring to 7, win by 2. Three-Touch Beach Ball Volley adds a rule: three different players must touch the ball before it crosses.

Why are there no drinking games here?

Alcohol and water do not mix: water safety guidance lists it among the things not to do before or while swimming, diving or supervising swimmers. Every game and prize on this page is alcohol-free.

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All 24 games

Float races and relays 8

  • Count Up the Corks Write 1 to 20 on corks and float them across the shallow end, twice over in two colors. Teams collect their own color in order: nobody may bring back 7 until 6 is on the pool edge. One walker at a time. Stay where everyone can stand, with one guest named as water watcher on the deck. Players: 4 to 12. Time: 10 min. Props: forty corks numbered in two colors.
  • Float Convoy Each team sits on its floats in a line, every paddler holding the ankles of the one behind, and paddles across the shallow end as one raft. A convoy that comes apart stops and joins up again before it moves. The first whole convoy to touch the far wall wins. Stay where everyone can stand, with one guest named as water watcher on the deck. Players: 6 to 16. Time: 10 min. Props: a pool float each.
  • Float Paddle Race Racers sit on a pool float and paddle with their hands across the width of the shallow end. Touch the wall, turn the float and paddle back. Anyone who slides off stands up, climbs back on where they are and carries on. Stay where everyone can stand, with one guest named as water watcher on the deck. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 10 min. Props: a pool float each.
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Float races and relays, continued

  • Float Slalom Anchor three floating markers in a line down the shallow end. Racers sit on a float and paddle a zigzag round all three and back, against the clock. Touching a marker adds five seconds. Run it as a team time, so nobody is timed alone. Stay where everyone can stand, with one guest named as water watcher on the deck. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 15 min. Props: a pool float and three floating markers.
  • Float Tow Relay One teammate sits on a float while another walks it across the shallow end by a towel for a tow rope. At the far wall they swap places for the trip back, then hand the float to the next pair. Walking only: the float tips at a jog. Stay where everyone can stand, with one guest named as water watcher on the deck. Players: 4 to 12. Time: 10 min. Props: two pool floats and two towels.
  • Floating Tray Waiter Race Fill four plastic cups to the brim, stand them on a floating tray and push the tray across the shallow end with one finger. Measure what is left by pouring all four into a jug at the far wall. The fullest jug wins, not the fastest waiter. Stay where everyone can stand, with one guest named as water watcher on the deck. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 10 min. Props: floating trays, plastic cups and a measuring jug.
  • Kickboard Wave Regatta Each racer has a rubber duck at the starting wall and a kickboard. Push water with the board to send the duck across, without touching it. Ducks that drift into another lane are fair game for anyone's waves. Stay where everyone can stand, with one guest named as water watcher on the deck. Players: 2 to 8. Time: 10 min. Props: kickboards and rubber ducks.
  • Musical Floats Float one fewer pool floats than there are players. Everyone walks in a circle round them while the music plays. When it stops, get a hand on a float, one player to a float. Whoever misses takes over the music and a float comes out. Stay where everyone can stand, with one guest named as water watcher on the deck. Players: 5 to 12. Time: 10 min. Props: pool floats and music.

Ball, ring and circle games 8

  • Floating Jack Bocce Float a plastic lid in the shallow end for the jack. Each side throws four balls of its own color from the wall, trying to stop nearest the lid. Only the closest side scores, one point for each ball nearer than the other side's best. Water drifts, so read it. Stay where everyone can stand, with one guest named as water watcher on the deck. Players: 2 to 8. Time: 15 min. Props: a plastic lid and eight floating balls in two colors.
  • Ice Water Hot Potato Stand in a circle and pass a floating ball while someone plays music with their back turned. When the music stops, the player on the holder's left pours one cup of ice water over the holder's shoulder. Nobody is out, and the cup is refilled from the cooler. Stay where everyone can stand, with one guest named as water watcher on the deck. Players: 5 to 14. Time: 10 min. Props: a ball, a cup, a cooler of ice water and music.
  • Noodle Bat Long Hit One player tosses a beach ball up and the batter hits it with a pool noodle, aiming down the length of the shallow end. Mark the splash with a floating ring. Three hits each, best one counts. The fielders walk the ball back. Stay where everyone can stand, with one guest named as water watcher on the deck. Players: 3 to 10. Time: 10 min. Props: a pool noodle, a beach ball and a floating ring.
  • Noodle Post Ring Toss One partner stands holding a pool noodle upright like a post. The other throws inflatable rings from four steps away, five to a turn. The post may lean to help but may not move its feet. Swap, add the scores and step back for round two. Stay where everyone can stand, with one guest named as water watcher on the deck. Players: 2 to 12. Time: 10 min. Props: pool noodles and inflatable rings.
  • Stand-Up Synchro Teams of four get five minutes to plan a thirty-second routine standing in waist-deep water: arms, turns and faces only, heads up the whole time. Perform to any song. The other teams hold up fingers for a score out of 10, and seriousness earns a bonus. Stay where everyone can stand, with one guest named as water watcher on the deck. Players: 4 to 16. Time: 15 min. Props: music.
  • Standing Water Volleyball to Seven Stretch a rope across the shallow end at head height and play with a beach ball. Rally scoring to 7, win by 2, and change ends after every set. Nobody jumps and nobody leaves standing depth, so a short rope is fine. Stay where everyone can stand, with one guest named as water watcher on the deck. Players: 4 to 12. Time: 20 min. Props: a rope and a beach ball.
  • Three-Touch Beach Ball Volley Same rope, new rule: the ball has to be touched by three different players before it crosses, and the third touch must go over. A ball that crosses early is the other side's point. It forces a team to pass to its quietest player. Stay where everyone can stand, with one guest named as water watcher on the deck. Players: 6 to 12. Time: 15 min. Props: a rope and a beach ball.
  • Water Basketball Twenty-One Stand a laundry basket on the pool edge. Players shoot in turn from the middle of the shallow end: 2 for a shot from there, 1 for a follow-up from where the ball lands. First to exactly 21 wins, and going over drops you back to 11. Stay where everyone can stand, with one guest named as water watcher on the deck. Players: 2 to 8. Time: 15 min. Props: a laundry basket and a soft ball.

Dry games for a summer party 8

  • Call the Shade Line Mark where the shadow of the fence or the umbrella lies on the deck with a strip of tape. Every guest writes the time they think the shadow will reach the far edge of the pool. Whoever is closest chooses the music for the evening. It is played out of the water, and someone still watches the pool. Players: 3 to 30. Time: 5 min. Props: tape, slips and a pencil.
  • Flip-Flop Deck Shuffleboard Chalk three scoring zones at one end of a smooth stretch of deck, worth 1, 2 and 3. Slide a flip-flop along the wet surface from a line ten steps back. It scores where it stops, and it may knock another out of a zone. Four slides a turn. It is played out of the water, and someone still watches the pool. Players: 2 to 8. Time: 10 min. Props: chalk and flip-flops.
  • Guess the Water Temperature Before anyone gets in, each guest dips a hand in the pool and writes down the temperature. Then read the pool thermometer aloud. The closest guess picks the first game. Ask again at the end of the afternoon and see who has learned. It is played out of the water, and someone still watches the pool. Players: 3 to 30. Time: 5 min. Props: a pool thermometer, slips and a pencil.
  • Kickboard Quiz Teams sit along the pool edge with their feet in the water and a kickboard marked A on one side and B on the other. The host reads a question with two possible answers, counts to three and every team holds up a side. Wrong answers kick up one big splash. It is played out of the water, and someone still watches the pool. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 15 min. Props: a kickboard for each team and a list of two-choice questions.
  • Lawn Chair Beach Ball Volley Set two rows of lawn chairs facing each other across a line of towels on the grass. Players volley a beach ball over the towels and must stay seated: lift off the chair and the point is lost. Play to 11 and swap ends, chairs and all. It is played out of the water, and someone still watches the pool. Players: 4 to 12. Time: 15 min. Props: lawn chairs, towels and a beach ball.
  • Marbles in the Ice Bucket Sit on a chair with a tub of ice water and twenty marbles in front of you. Using toes only, lift out as many marbles as you can in one minute and drop them in a cup. Dry feet on a towel before walking anywhere. It is played out of the water, and someone still watches the pool. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 10 min. Props: a tub of ice water, marbles, a cup and a towel.
  • Paper Boat Regatta From the Edge Everyone folds a boat from one sheet of paper and names it. Launch them at one side and kneel on the deck to fan them across the width of the pool with a magazine, no touching. A boat that sinks is out. The first boat to the far side wins. It is played out of the water, and someone still watches the pool. Players: 2 to 12. Time: 10 min. Props: paper, a marker and magazines to fan with.
  • Pump Up the Float Race Two teams each get a flat pool float and a foot pump. Take turns of ten pumps each. The float is done when a teammate can sit on it on the grass without touching the ground. It also gets the floats ready, which was the plan all along. It is played out of the water, and someone still watches the pool. Players: 4 to 10. Time: 10 min. Props: two flat pool floats and two foot pumps.

How this list was compiled: Written for this site for grown-ups at a home pool, in our own words; player counts and times are our estimates. Every water game stays in standing depth, none asks anyone to swim a length, dive, jump in, hold their breath or go under, and none involves alcohol. The safety lines follow the American Red Cross water safety pages, read on 2026-10-01: https://www.redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-for-emergencies/types-of-emergencies/water-safety.html and its home-pool-safety page (never swim alone, water watchers, no alcohol before or while swimming or supervising, no head-first entry outside a safe diving area). Bocce scoring was checked the same day on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bocce. Licence: own work