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A Splash of FunKiddie pools your children will adore.

By Jennifer Howard
Posted Tuesday, July 24, 2007, at 7:15 AM ET

(Continued from page 1)

Intex Pinwheel Pool

Intex Pinwheel Pool, $33.99
Props to the Pinwheel for its generous diameter, which allows both tykes and big folk plenty of room to maneuver. (Our friends did some fabulous spinning in it.) And it's deep enough to get more than just your feet wet. The ample size, however, means that you may spend from now until Labor Day pumping and filling. And while the clear side walls with colorful inserts looked pretty, they couldn't take the pressure; they started to sag the first time somebody sat on the edge, and they never bounced back.

Pump and fill: 5
Durability and capacity: 6
Splash factor: 5
Total: 16

Intex Sun Shade Pool

Intex Sun Shade Pool, $34.95
I'm something of a sun-phobe, so a pool with an attachable sun canopy sounded great to me. While I still slathered my offspring with sunscreen, I felt less neurotic about having them out on a blazing afternoon when the pool came with its own shade. But the Sun Shade didn't entirely satisfy. The wee patches of Velcro that hold the canopy in place don't work that well, so the contraption winds up listing like the Tower of Pisa. Add a boisterous jumper to your swimming posse and you'll spend a lot of time reattaching the canopy. Still, the kids got a kick out of the tentlike effect, and it gave them some extra shade. Plus the pool itself is nice and deep, doesn't take up the entire back yard, and has fun fishy motifs on the sides.

Pump and fill: 6
Durability and capacity: 6
Splash factor: 7
Total: 19

Swim Ways 60" Spring Pool

Swim Ways 60" Spring Pool, $34.99
It ain't flashy, but if you're looking for a kiddie pool that can go wherever you do, the Swim Ways Spring Pool is for you. It folds up handily into a slim bundle that tucks into a mesh carrying bag (included). Another plus: Only the top ring requires inflation, and you don't need a pump—two minutes of old-fashioned mouth-to-valve blowing and it's ready for water. Like the Surf Club Rapid Set, however, the Swim Ways needs to be nearly full before you venture in, or the soft sides won't support the inflated rim. And don't try sitting on it, either—the sides will collapse. The Swim Ways is best equipped to handle two or three kids under the age of 6 or so; more than that and your swim session turns into a traffic jam. The color scheme and tropical-fish theme aren't exactly fresh, but the effect is cheerful. And you can't beat its portability. Have pool, will travel.

Pump and fill: 8
Durability and capacity: 5
Splash factor: 7
Total: 20

Banzai Slide 'N Splash Whale Pool

Banzai Slide 'N Splash Whale Pool, $24.99
Unlike our sharky friend, this guy made a real splash. It comes in two parts—a shallow, bright-blue basin and a detachable, inflatable slide shaped like a happy blue whale. The kids had a blast somersaulting down the whale's back (before we added water!), and the thrill didn't wear off, even after a good half-hour of whale riding. To feed the whale's spout, you attach the hose to a separate nozzle. For some reason, unlike the shark pool's equivalent, the sprinkler in this model went over big—maybe because whales actually have spouts. If you're looking for a grown-up-friendly pool, alas, you'll have to look elsewhere. The basin's too shallow to allow much swimming. It's more of a landing pad for the slide than anything else. We love you anyway, Slide 'N Splash Whale!

Pump and fill: 7
Durability and capacity: 6
Splash factor: 9
Total: 22

Intex Swim Center Summer Colors Pool

Intex Swim Center Summer Colors Pool, $23.99
It didn't look like much in the box, but this pool turned out to be the sleeper hit of the summer. Its stacked rings and padded floor required extra pump work, but the separate layers made for extra-sturdy side walls—a weak spot in many inflatable pools—tough enough for several kids to balance and jump on without visible damage. It's plenty deep enough for the average 4-year-old to float and kick in. Larger people might find it a squeeze; three kids (or one kid and one adult) are about all it can handle at one time. But with its soft pentagonal flower shape and Miami-bright colors, it packed the biggest aesthetic punch of our test models. And it added a nice dash of color to the back yard. If Andy Warhol had designed a kiddie pool, it would look like this. Summertime, and the swimmin' is groovy.

Pump and fill: 7
Durability and capacity: 8
Splash factor: 8
Total: 23

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Jennifer Howard is a writer living in Washington, D.C., and a contributor to the anthology D.C. Noir.
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Remarks from the Fray:

We bought the whale pool this year to replace an aging seahorse themed one. The slide seemed like it would be cool. Specifically, the kids on the box art looked like they were having a blast!

Unfortunately, it turns out that the pool is a bit smaller than it looks in the picture. Looks like a case of some clever photoshopping to me. I'm embarrassed to say I was taken in by it. Anyway, it's a good pool but it's smaller than it looks.

--miketwain

(To reply, click here.)

One note I will add concerns the Whale Pool. I bought that pool for my girls at the beginning of the summer. They loved it and had a blast going down the slide and running through the sprinkler out of the top of the whale. Unfortunately, by the 4th time of using it, things went downhill.

I filled up the pool with water then attached the hose to the whale. Pretty soon, the kids were complaining the slide fell over. I told them to just push it back down, but they said it was too heavy. When I went around to it, I saw the problem. The whole side of the whale where the hose was attached had filled up with water. It was extremely heavy and it was about all I could do to lift it myself. Then to make things worse, the only way to get the water out was through the valve you blow air into!

It took a huge amount of time to squeeze the valve to let the water flow back out. I was ready to just cut a hole into it make it go faster. I cannot recommend the Whale Pool to others because of that reason.

There also ended up getting a hole in the pool part. While the kids were jumping and sliding on the whale part that 4th time, the whale itself also got a hole in it and didn't keep its air. I ended up throwing the whole pool - slide and all - into the trash. It doesn't stand up to a whole summer of sliding fun. Bummer. The kids were very disappointed.

--wendybme

(To reply, click here.)

I'm in Southern Arizona, and kiddie pools are now almost past purchasing. I wanted one for my new dog. Target was out. The clerk at Wal-Mart said, "Winter starts in August," as he directed me to the clearance area where there were no kiddie pools left. I spent much too much at a home improvement store. Yikes.

--cgillesb

(To reply, click here.)

We have a Victorian fixer-upper that lacks, among other things, air conditioning. For some reason, all my friends were delighted at the way we beat the heat: one of those molded plastic, $10 kiddie pools (of the sort Jennifer is avoiding here, having actual kids). We put it inside, right in front of the TV, filled it with water, and sat in it with a drink in one hand (martinis go well with this classy endeavor) and the remote in the other. Cool on many levels.

--a_boyer

(To reply, click here.)

It's always a bad idea to leave even shallow wading pools filled with water. They are an irresistable attraction to kids and a perfect example of a drowning hazard. Unless you have an alarm on the doors that goes on when they are opened, all the time, or you have a self-latching safety fence around the pool, (yeah right) your should plan on draining and refilling with each use. Children will always be the more precious resource, not the water.

--Gibby99

(To reply, click here.)

Jen, how about finding a second use for that water? Most houses aren't set up to use graywater (which is perfectly good for routing to toilets, lawn sprinklers, and other applications), but it's possible to change that. You could've specifically pointed out the issue here, rather than just shrugging at it.

--auros

(To reply, click here.)

(7/26)

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