Pool Toys

If you own a swimming pool, you may be totally content just splashing and swimming about on your own or with friends without any distractions.  If this is the case, it is probably safe to assume that you are an adult.  Sometimes adults can be a little bit boring.  One of the benefits of having kids is they keep you hopping and don't let you settle into too many boring routines.  Kids like pool toys and they have a wonderful ability to make the very most out of those swimming pool toys as they frolic in the summer heat.  Even babies love the pool once you get them used to it.  Sometimes if a little one is reluctant, using infant pool toys can get them interested, and then look out when it comes time to try getting them out.

The great thing about having a swimming pool is the long term value you get out of it.  Sure, you make the initial investment and then there is some upkeep stuff, but so many people get to enjoy it for years.  You can still find cheap inflatable pool toys that are perfect to spark the imagination of kids for a very reasonable price.  I'll use my own kids as an example here.  Two of them were swimming in our above ground pool the other day and I found some kids pool toys sitting in the shed.  I grabbed one of the inflatable pool toys that I'd thrown in there at the end of last season and blew it up.  It was just one of those giant donut shaped rings.  I'm not kidding when I say that they were playing with it non-stop for the next two hours.  First they were diving through it, then they floated on it and finally, they improvised and make it into a swimming pool basketball hoop when a couple of neighbor kids came over.  The total cost to me?  I think I spent about two bucks a piece on a clearance of discount pool toys last year around Labor Day.  Not too bad of an investment of my entertainment dollars.

Of course, if you want to, you can spend much more on pool toys. There are motorized toys which are pretty cool, but will cost more money. There are little motorized pool floats that look a bit like jet skis as well as water scooter that can zip you around through the water. Prices for motorized toys can range from around thirty dollars up into the hundreds of dollars. Before buying these types of toys, make sure that you have sufficient room in your swimming pool to safely accommodate them. Size is a consideration when buying toys for any pool, but for above ground swimming pools in particular, you should make sure that there is enough room for swimmers and toys alike.  You don't want anything so big that it is constantly running into the walls where the liner can get damaged.  An example of this situation might be using floating chairs with an aluminum metal frame.

I'm more about the cheap pool toys myself. By cheap, I mean inexpensive. You shouldn't compromise safety in the pool for the sake of saving a few dollars. You should also point out to kids that while they are splashing around in the swimming pool, they have to keep safety in mind first. It is easy for kids to get carried away sometimes when they are playing with their friends in the pool.

As I said, I go for the cheap inflatable pool toys. If you go for the more complex toys however, keep in mind that you should check for any kinds of sharp or hard edges on anything you put into the swimming pool. Your summer swimming fun can suffer a serious blow if you or some other swimmer manages to cut the swimming pool liner. That can be a time consuming and potentially expensive repair and it can be avoided by giving pool toys the once over before you even buy them.