As the weather starts to warm up, your thoughts may be turning to the summer and planning lots of outdoor fun with your family. Here I’ve put together a few paddling pool hacks to make sure you get the best from your paddling pool during the summer months.

10. Paddling Pool Hacks

First I take a look at six of the best paddling pool hacks for keeping your paddling pool clean, using it as a bath on a holiday and how it can be used as an outdoor play pen for little ones.

1. Fitted Sheet Paddling Pool Hack

Rather than buying a paddling pool cover to keep out the creepy crawlies at night, all you need is an old fitted sheet. If you don’t have one they can be picked up pretty cheaply from most supermarkets.

Simply stretch the sheet across the top of the pool and the elasticated sides should keep it in place.

2. Make Sure Everyone Cleans Their Feet Before Getting In

Paddling pools can get full of dirt and debris pretty quickly.

One way to stop this from happening is to encourage your children to give their feet a quick wash before getting in.

We use a washing-up bowl or bucket for this.

While they might not remember every time they jump in and out, it can still make a big difference and hopefully means you’ll need to change the water less often.

3. Paddling Pool Hacks: Keep A Small Fishing Net Handy

Having a small fishing net handy is great for removing random bits of debris that can easily start to build up in your paddling pool after a few hours of use.

You can also do a bigger sweep of the paddling pool at the end of the day once everyone has stopped using it.

This should stop the water from getting dirty and prevent the paddling pool from needing to be refilled quite so often.

You can also remove any bugs or critters.

4. Use Your Paddling Pool As A Holiday Bathtub

This is one of my favourite paddling pool hacks!

If you have children who aren’t keen on having a shower but your holiday accommodation only has a shower unit and no bath, you can use a small paddling pool in the base of the shower.

The paddling pool becomes a mini bath, perfect for washing those sandy toes after a long day at the beach!

5. Paddling Pools Are Perfect For Outdoor Play

Even when it’s not warm enough outside for water play, you can still use your paddling pool in plenty of ways.

From filling with sand to filling with plastic balls, your little ones will still find lots of ways to have fun.

6. Paddling Pool Hack – It’s Perfect For Pets Too!

It’s not just kids that enjoy splashing about in warm weather.

Why not let your dog get in on the fun too? It can help keep them cool, just make sure they’re not out in the sun for too long!

Paddling Pool Heating Hacks

Are kids complaining about the cold water?

I get it, it can take ages for the paddling pool to heat up to a reasonable temperature.

Here are a few quick hacks to warm up the water.

7. Paddling Pool Heating Hack – Place A Balloon Over Your Kitchen Tap

While most of us have an outdoor tap, they usually only run cold water, which can feel freezing even on a very hot day. One solution is attaching your hose to the hot kitchen sink tap instead and adding some warm water to the paddling pool. However, this only works if your kitchen tap is compatible with your hose attachment.

A way around this is to use the top of a balloon as a makeshift connector. Cut the top off of an uninflated balloon at the neck, just before the balloon starts to widen. Attach the top part with the thicker rim to the kitchen tap and the other end of the balloon to the end of your hose.

The seal made is strong enough that water can easily pass through.

8. Warm Up Your Paddling Pool With The Black Bag Hack

Another top tip for heating your paddling pool is to fill it with cold water and cover it with a couple of black bags.

The black bags absorb the heat and warm the water underneath them. After doing this trick we then reused the bags as an overnight paddling pool cover.

9. Install A Hot Outdoor Tap

Might seem extreme and probably isn’t going to do your energy bills any favours, but if none of the above ideas works or is practical, you could always get a hot outdoor tap installed by a plumber.

10. Cover Your Padding Pool With Bubble Wrap

Covering your paddling pool with bubble wrap works in the same way as covering it with black bags. The bubble wrap works as an insulator and helps to warm up the water. It also has the added benefit of keeping out any bugs overnight.