If you go to most stores in the summer, you will see a wide selection of water toys. There are floats and water wings, little boats, sit on inflatables and of course pool noodles to name just a few. While pool toys that are actually made for that purpose will make a great addition to the pool area and give the family hours of fun, not all pool toys are created equal.
When your children are near water, the first thing is supervision. This means never losing sight of each other and always monitoring what they are doing on the water. This also extends to toys as well. If a toy breaks, remove it from the pool immediately or else it may present a hazard not only to children (cuts and the like) but also to the pool itself. Sharp objects can cut or damage a pool liner, poke a hole in an inflatable pool, or get stuck in the skimmer or piping. While pool noodles with chunks in them will still work and won’t cut your child, the pieces can still get stuck in the pool works and cause problems.
If that float or inflatable ride has a leak, that too should be taken out and either repaired or thrown away. No child wants to get stuck in the deep end of a pool on something that is losing air. For larger inflatables there are kits available to fix leaks and for smaller things it may be easier to replace it all together than to try to fix small leaks.
You may have noticed that pool toys tend to be colored plastic, and that’s for a very good reason. Sure, those cookware can leak and leak water and are a lot of fun, but if they’re metal, be careful when using them in the pool. First, the metal gets very hot in the sun, and second, the metal could react with the chemicals in the pool and turn the water an unpleasant color. Besides, why use good kitchen utensils when plastic pool toys are just as fun and built for the job?
While the latter may be a no-brainer, there’s no place for wheeled toys near a pool. Trikes, bicycles, and scooters must be on the grass or sidewalk, not on the pool deck. Security First!