Summer may be over, but here’s how to keep the pool party going
The end of summer is a bitter-sweet moment. While Autumn brings beautiful colours, and has its own charm for us (a nice chill in the air paired with a hot chocolate — yum), it does mark the end of long hot days and the endless pool parties for the kids.
But does it have to?
If you happen to have water babies that insist on water play even as temperatures drop, here are some ideas that can help.
While you may not be able to control that temperature drop or the lack of sunshine, you can still keep that summer party feel by bringing the pool and the party inside — without the mess.
And since parents come with different time availabilities, and clean-up schedules, what’s even better is that these activities have been categorised based on the amount of planning and cleanup that they require.
Have a weekend coming up? Go for Idea 1 and host a lūʻau sleepover for the girls. Want something with a little water play but no cleanup? Then go for Idea 3 and keep that pool party going!
Want to hear them squeal with joy? Merge all 3 ideas and hear the words: “BEST. POOL. PARTY. EVER!”
Idea 1: Host a lūʻau sleepover
Planning Level: Difficult
Cleanup Time: 20-30 minutes
Supervision Required
Bid a gentle aloha to summer with a Hawaiian-themed sleepover. Oh, a heads-up, this may require a little planning and effort from your end. However, with the right decorations, games, snacks, and invites, you can host the best lūʻau sleepover — complete with the coconuts.
Print out some DIY invitations and décor to spice up the room, gather some snacks and lots of flowers from your garden to add the Hawaiian feel, and let the kids host a lovely lūʻau sleepover.
Dress code? Their most colourful outfits, and if you don’t mind cleaning up, bring in a sandbox for them to play in.
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Idea 2: DIY leis and Hula Skirts
Planning Level: Easy
Cleanup Time: 10 minutes
Some supervision is required.
Not in the mood to chaperone a party? Then make some DIY flower leis with the kids.
Have them pick their favourite flowers from the garden or, even better, design their own flowers and leaves from coloured construction paper. Don’t forget to use safety scissors.
Once they are done, ask them to use a hole punch to make holes in the flowers and leaves. They might need your help with this step.
You can also add a few colourful straws and cut them into 1-inch pieces.
The next step involves stringing together the flowers, leaves, and straws to design their own flower leis. Once done, cut the string and tie the ends. And that’s it.
Want to add a little more fun? Upcycle some old brown paper or plastic bags and let the kids make their own Hulu skirts to match the leis. They can also add any leftover flowers at the waistband.
Idea 3: Splash away with Gabby’s Dollhouse Pool Playset
Planning Level: Super Duper Easy
Cleanup Time: None
Minimal supervision is required
Cute pool floats? Check!
Adorable swimsuits and colour-changing tails? Double Check!
Squiddy Kitty for some water squirting because you promised some water fun? CHECK and CHECK!
Because the official end of summer means that pool parties have to be put on hold, but you promised them a little water fun, go for Gabby’s Dollhouse Pool Playset.
Hands down, it is that one activity that keeps kids occupied and involved in something productive for longer than 20 minutes — sometimes even for hours on end!
The pool play set is easy to set up (there’s even a kid’s tutorial to help the girls do it by themselves) and it involves water play — not enough to drench the room but enough to throw a tiny pool party!
Gabby and MerCat come in cute swimming outfits, just like they do on the show, and they get to slide and splash in the pool. They also have mermaid tails that change colour when submerged in water.
If anything, this fun set promises hours of creative pretend play, recreating their favourite episodes. MerCat and Gabby teach kids to take turns as they speed down the pool slide to make a splash, and because Gabby’s Dollhouse doesn’t just encourage creative play and imagination, role-playing her positive personality helps ingrain those values in preschoolers.
If you have seen the show, you know Gabby is warm, kind, generous, and smart. And just like your preschooler, she makes mistakes. But instead of shying away, she shows the kids how to learn from them while celebrating friendship, positivity, and problem-solving.
Already a Gabby fan? Well, the set is compatible with the Original Gabby’s Dollhouse Playset, with the stairs connecting to her Purr-fect Dollhouse.
There is no way you can go wrong with this one!
Bonus: Poolside Snacks
Is it even parenting if you aren’t carefully adding healthy, nutritious snacks to the mix? Sure, they soaked up tons of vitamin D this summer, so how about you keep that streak going by adding some vitamins A, B, and C through some poolside snacks?
Besides, every pool party is incomplete without some fun snacks!
Grab colourful plates and fill them up with their favourite fruits: kiwi chunks, strawberries, banana chunks—hey, throw in a few crackers in the mix. Add forks so that they can eat as they go on adventures with Gabby, MerCat and Squiddy Kitty, or just watch them relax in their floats in the pool set.
This is a paid partnership between Kiindred and Spin Master.
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Zofishan Umair Follow +
Zofishan is a journalist, humour columnist, and a mum who has survived nappy explosions mid-air. She has over a decade of experience writing for print and online publications and is currently working on her first book.
