Who doesn’t love pumpkins and Halloween? It’s the best holiday!

Get in the spirit of spooks, ghouls, zombies, and skeletons with some exciting and fun games ripe for the Autumn feeling. When I was coaching Developmental Swim Team every day for my full-time job I got bored with the repetitive nature (same skills year after year) and coming up with holiday specific games and challenges were a necessity to not be stale.

Here are some old and new ideas for running games and challenges with all levels and abilities during the Halloween awesomeness.

*Images were created with Google Gemini LLM, so please forgive the use of ai. All the games and challenges are created by hand and tested in the water by Jeff N.

Level 1:

Challenge: Flap like a vampire bat

With your chin touching the water put your hands out to the sides and slap the water as fast as you can. Walk around the benches (best to have 2 pushed together).

Bonus: add floating ducks or toys and have the swimmers flap their wings to splash the floaties towards their face and have them “CHOMP” the floating toys to “bite them” and “suck their blood” like a vampire bat.

Challenge: Dr. Frankenstein and their Monster

Have one swimmer float on their back like they’re a sleeping create of stitched together body parts. They will pretend to be the “monster.” They can be supported by the instructor with Head on shoulder or Hand on Head support.

The rest of the class will be Dr. Frankensteins and will have to “bring the creature to life!” Use a funny voice to make the creature LIVE!

Dr. Frankenstein will throw their hands in the air, make a giant splash, then pour water with buckets or their hands onto the “monster’s” belly or legs while shouting “LIVE! LIVE! We bring you to LIFFFFFEEEE!!!!”

If the Doctors have been successful, as chosen by the instructor, the “monster” should sit up and stand like the Frankenstein Monster growling and snarling and stumbling around the bench. Optionally can chase the swimmers as they run around nearby screaming in terror.

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Level 2:

Challenge: Witch Broom Blast

Swimmers stand on a platform or water bench and each get a “Broom” which is a foam pool noodle. Witches get on their broom by straddling it, then get ready to “blast” by leaning forward on the “broom” (noodle) to do a front glide without kicks from their bench to another bench.

BONUS: friends can give the witch a “potion blast” by splashing the water and pushing the witch’s feet for an extra blast off boost to help them across the gap of water.

Challenge: Skeleton “Swim”

Swimmers should act like skeletons: clacking their teeth, not able to speak, and moving in jerky, bones only movements, and a little reckless. They should laugh with a cackling “hee hee hee hee” noise.

One at a time swimmers will walk to the edge of the platform, then fall forward into a front float or walk on the bottom (cause their skeletons) and cross a small gap to the next platform.

BONUS: skeletons get bonus points for sinking (which we normally don’t encourage) cause their “bones only and bones don’t float).

Level 3:

Challenge: Headless Horseman Front Crawl

Have swimmers streamline and swim 3 strokes or 5 strokes of front crawl (freestyle), but with their head tucked so far under their shoulders that someone standing above water cannot see their head. So they look “headless.”

When they get to their apex (end of streamline and 5 strokes) they should stand up on a bench, or stand on the ground and “throw a jack-o-lantern” (ball, or toy) at a scared Ichabod Crane (the swim instructor). Bonus if they an hit the teacher.