Aqua Shot Hoop is available at www.thewaterwayssports.com.

Hoop It Up

For starters, you can’t go wrong with a basketball hoop when it comes to endless sandbar fun. Designed to seamlessly mount to the side of your pontoon boat, the Aqua Shot innovative basketball hoop brings the excitement of the court to the open water. Equipped with secure foam-padded hooks and a protective backboard, your boat’s exterior surface stays pristine while you perfect your shots on the water. Compatible with pontoons of all sizes, the Plexiglas ensures both safety and entertainment. The all-in-one kit includes everything you need to get the fun rolling: the backboard, large steel rim and net, a size 5 game ball, and a ball pump.

Ice Bowling

This one’s sure to be a crowd pleaser. For this game, you’ll need to fill some water balloons to roughly the size of a bowling ball (maybe a little smaller), freeze them overnight at home, and bring them along with you in one of your coolers.

Additionally, you’ll need some bowling pins. There are plenty of options when it comes to bowling pins. You can get a cheap set of kids’ bowling pins at a local toy store or online, or you could go with the option of creating your own custom set with things you have lying around the house that you can bring along, such as bottles—really anything you can knock down.

Once you’re at the beach, find a good spot to smooth out your bowling lane, set up your pins, break out your frozen water balloon bowling balls, and you’ll be ready for a good old-fashioned game of ice bowling.

To piggyback on that, since you’ve already got some water balloons, be sure to leave some unfrozen so you can have a little water balloon fight, too, if you feel like it. Just be sure to clean up afterward and not leave any balloon remnants behind. Nobody likes a litterbug.

Frozen T-Shirt Race

While you’re freezing your makeshift bowling balls, don’t forget to stick some t-shirts in the freezer… seriously.

For this game, you’ll need to have one t-shirt per player. First, get them wet, squeeze out the excess water, and fold them as small as you can. Then put some waxed paper between the shirts to separate them, and freeze them overnight.

Stick them in a cooler on the boat, and once you’re at the sandbar, the game begins. Give each player a shirt, then start the race to see who can be the first to unfold theirs and put it on. This game works marvelously well in hot weather, since all the players will be itching to put on their nice, frozen shirts to cool off.

Duck, Duck, Splash

Ever heard of Duck, Duck, Goose? Of course you have. Chances are you’ve played your fair share of this classic game as a kid. Speaking of kids, if you have some on board your boat, they’re going to love this fun rendition of the game. And the best part? All you need is a cup of water to pull it off—or a bucket if you really want to soak that goose.

In this game, all the players sit in a circle while one walks around the outside with the cup (or bucket) of water. They pat the head of the participant, saying “duck” for each one until—SPLASH! They let one of the participants have it by pouring the water over one of the player’s heads. The splashed player chases the splasher around the circle to try to regain their seat.

This game is sure to elicit some great laughs from the players. In the end, everyone will probably get splashed, which should be pretty refreshing on those sweltering days at the lake.

These fun new ideas for games at the sandbar will shake things up for you and your party. Give some (or all of them) a try the next time you take your pontoon or deck boat out. You won’t be disappointed!