12 Best Pool Toys, For Toddlers Through Teens
Encourage kids to dive, float, and swim a little longer, strengthening their water skills.
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Up in the north, where we live, swim season is highly anticipated. The kids wait through fall, winter, and spring for the pools to open. For my two kids and my two nieces, it's time to break out their water toys—and they tend to play with the same ones year after year, never growing bored of their swimming games. I'm pretty sure that they don't even clock that pretending to be a dolphin diving through hoops, or competing with a sibling to collect toys off the pool floor, makes them stronger swimmers.
Our top picks:
Best overall: Oodles of Noodles Swim Noodles 6-Pack
Best value: SwimWays Toypedo Bandits Pool Diving Toys 4-Pack
Best for babies and toddlers: Green Toys Submarine
Many bath toys can be adapted to the pool, but I like swim toys that encourage big kids to swim around and really get their heads wet. This list includes many favorites that my family has enjoyed.
Best Deal
You probably don't need me to tell you about pool noodles, but I can point you to the wisdom of buying a whole pack. Everyone in the family ends up wanting one for games and just plain floating around.
My second kid, who was a little scared of the water but didn't want to admit it, used a pool noodle for years to gain confidence. Later, when he became an accomplished swimmer, he just used one for pool sword fights. Ages 5+
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While other toys float lazily underwater, these are far more hydrodynamic and can glide up to 20 feet, making it a challenge for kids to hunt them down and dive to collect them. They're particularly fun when several kids are racing. Ages 5+
Made of recycled milk cartons, this submarine is also a tub toy for babies and toddlers. When they submerge it and lift it, water pours from the front and through the portholes. Ages 6 months+
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Everyone loves a ride-on! This duckie inflatable is highly rated, with handles—and, of course, that duck head—for kids to hold onto while they float for fun. It's meant for confident swimmers and is age-graded for teens. Ages 14+
My nieces love their pool squids and greet them at the start of the summer like it's a long-awaited reunion. The toys are simple: Toss them in, and they float to the bottom with their big heads pointing down, so the tentacles point up and are easy to grab. My nieces retrieve them by diving in deeper water, or can pull them up by their toes in shallower water.
This search-and-find game starts when you throw 64 faux gems to the bottom of the pool. Kids can either race to collect them or search out a specific gem type listed on one of the waterproof cards. The gems are stored in a bag, making this an easy game to take on a vacation that will involve pool time. Ages 6+
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Big kids who love to swim underwater also love to make it a game. This set of three rings helps form an underwater obstacle course for them to navigate. Ages 8+
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Playing catch in the pool is forever fun. I like that these are made for water, don't need to be inflated, and come in a pack of two, so if one sails out of the pool, you don't have to retrieve it right away; you can just keep going with the other.
These also come in fun animal shapes, including balls shaped like Nemo-like clownfish and sharks. Ages 7+
When this ball is filled with water, it sinks to the bottom of a pool, bounces, then rises back up again, so you can dribble it like a basketball or kick it underwater like a soccer ball. It's heavy, so there's also a "junior" version for ages 6+. Ages 8+
Disney-themed pool toys were a staple of my kids' summers. I love this Mr. Ray net they can use to catch and release Nemo, Dory, and other fish from the school. The animals all float at different depths!
There's also a version that's themed to Gabby's Dollhouse. Ages 5+
This inflatable basketball hoop makes shooting baskets a fun pool time challenge. It comes with the inflatable ball, too.
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Toddlers and preschoolers hang on to the big orca and see if they can gobble up the other floating fish, labeled 1 through 4 and each a different color to reinforce number and color recognition. Ages 2+
What to consider when shopping for pool toys
While it's a good idea to keep an eye on your child wherever they're playing, when it comes to the pool, a watchful eye is even more important. To ensure your children have a fun and safe time with their pool toys, here are a few things to consider:
✔️Safety: Before you get to the toys, make sure you're abiding by pool safety rules. Always keep an eye on your child while they're in or near water, make sure you have a phone handy in case of emergency, and have a floatation device handy.
✔️Age range: While some bright and exciting toys may appeal to little kids, that doesn't mean they'll be able to use them until they're a little older. Make sure you're only using toys within the proper age range of your children. Large inflatables are particularly dangerous for small children as they pose the risk of flipping over and trapping them underwater.
✔️Swimming skills: Pick toys that match your child's swimming skills. I kept to floating toys while my son was nervous, and only had him graduate to things he had to dive for once he could confidently swim underwater.
Why trust Good Housekeeping?
Contributing writer Jessica Hartshorn is a mom of two young adults, both of whom are strong swimmers. One learned quickly at age 3, one needed one-on-one lessons to get confident at about age 8, a reminder that all children learn differently. Regardless of how happy a kid seems in the water, swim lessons are a great way to reinforce technique and learn safety skills. Before evaluating products for the Good Housekeeping Institute, Hartshorn was an editor at Parents magazine.
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