20 Brilliantly Creative Ways To Repurpose Those Old Kiddie Pools

Plastic kiddie pools have been around since I was younger and they are often the best part of summer. Of course, if your kids are grown, you may not need them anymore.

Or, once summer is over, you may wonder what you can do with those old plastic pools aside from simply turning them upside down for storage.

I bought a few of these at a yard sale recently for really cheap and that got me wondering just what I could repurpose them into.

I love yard sales and I love finding things that can be reused in other ways.

Finding these old plastic pools made me happy because now I get to choose ways to repurpose them, and repurposing really is one of my favorite pastimes.

Just check out these 25 ways to repurpose your kids’ old toys to see what I mean.

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1. Repurposed Swimming Pool Ball Pit

You can easily turn a plastic kiddie pool into a ball pit and give your little ones some excitement in the pool even during the winter. Just find a place inside where you can store the pit and then fill it up with balls.

This works really well with deflatable pools, too. When the kids are finished playing, you can deflate the pool and store it and the balls in a storage container until next time.

Tutorial/Source: colormadehappy

2. Amazing Giant Bird’s Nest

If your kids are finished playing with their kiddie pool in the traditional sense or you just need something to do with it through the winter months, fill it with shredded cardboard and giant plastic eggs and make it into a huge bird’s nest that they can play in.

This is also the perfect opportunity to teach your little ones about birds and nature in general. Plus, they’ll love playing birdie and “hatching” their eggs.

Tutorial/Source: creeksidelearning

3. Perfect DIY Bubbly Ball Pit

Turn a traditional ball pit into a sensory play area for your little ones by adding bubbles. Those plastic kiddie pools are perfect for holding in the bubbles and giving them a wonderful playtime.

Just add bubble bath and some plastic balls and they’ll have a blast with the textures and after all, what kid doesn’t love playing with bubbles?

Tutorial/Source: mysmallpotatoes

4. Repurposed Kiddie Pool Container Garden

If you don’t have the space for a traditional garden, or you just prefer raised gardens for whatever reason, you can turn those old plastic kiddie pools into container gardens.

These are perfect for renters, especially. You can grow your own veggies without worries of tilling up your landlord’s property. This is a great opportunity to teach your kids about gardening and growing their own veggies is often all the inspiration they need to try new foods.

Tutorial/Source: thespruce

5. DIY Critter Pit

If you’re looking for a way to teach your young ones about nature, fill that old swimming pool with top soil and then add plastic bugs, lizards, snakes – plastic snakes! – and other critters.

Use magnifying glasses, bug nests and other essentials to teach them all about crawly critters and let them explore to their heart’s content. Did I mention using plastic critters? I wouldn’t fill the pit with real bugs or other creatures at all, but kids will still have a blast learning about the critters, while being safe at the same time.

Tutorial/Source: chalkboardstostrollers

6. Repurposed Swimming Pool Duck Pond

Repurpose that plastic swimming pool into an amazing duck pond! I love ducks and would love to have them just casually strolling through the yard at any given time.

This repurposed kiddie pool duck pond is perfect for adding a few young ducks and your kids will love watching those ducks grow up. Using a plastic pool also makes your duck pond really easy to keep clean.

Tutorial/Source: backyardchickens

7. Corn Filled Sensory Fun Pool

Corn is great for sensory fun and you can turn an old swimming pool into the perfect place for keeping that corn. Just fill a plastic kiddie pool with corn and let the kids have at it.

You’ll need about 50 pounds of corn to fill it up, which you can get at any feed or farm supply store. You can also recycle the corn as feed once the kids are finished with their sensory playing.

Tutorial/Source: playathomemom3

8. Beautiful Triple Tiered Garden Fountain

You can turn inflatable kiddie pools into a gorgeous tiered fountain, and it’s not that difficult to do so. You’ll need three different sizes, if you want three tiers that is.

This is perfect if you want to add a large fountain but don’t want to spend a fortune and would be a great addition to your outdoor gatherings or parties. You just separate the tiers with planters or other similar items and add a floating pool fountain to the top tier.

Tutorial/Source: ehow

9. DIY Guinea Pig Cage

If you’re thinking of getting a guinea pig, or even a rabbit, and you don’t want to shell out over $50 for just a cage, you can easily turn an old kiddie pool into the perfect pet cage, and it gives your little pets so much more room than those expensive cages that you get at most pet supply stores.

Just add a small pet fence, which you can pick up for under $20, or you can DIY the fence with some chicken wire or similar fencing material. It’s a great play space for your pets that won’t break the bank.

Tutorial/Source: guineapigcages

10. Repurposed Kiddie Pool Party Cooler

If you’re planning an outdoor party or any type of huge get together, a plastic kiddie pool is the perfect way to keep your drinks cold or you can even use it as a buffet type cooler to keep those mayonnaise based foods cool.

Just fill it with ice and add in whatever you want to keep cold. This is much cheaper than a traditional cooler, and much larger, too. You’ll be able to keep all of your foods nice and cool while you enjoy the outdoor weather.

Tutorial/Source: beautyandbedlam

11. Easy DIY Sandbox

Turn that old plastic pool into the perfect sandbox. If your little ones still use their swimming pool, you can just pick up another. They’re much cheaper than sandboxes and hold so much sand!

You’ll need several pounds of sand depending on how big the swimming pool is. These are great sandboxes and kids love them. Plus, the higher edges help to keep the sand in the box where it belongs. You can add a larger pool to cover the sandbox when it’s not in use to keep bugs and rain out.

Tutorial/Source: premeditatedleftovers

12. Sensory Play Glowing Ball Pit

Balls are great for sensory play, even more so when they glow. If you’re planning a nighttime party, this glowing ball pit is perfect. It’s great even if you’re not having other kids over though.

Your own little ones will love it and it’s so easy to put together. There are actually numerous ways that you can turn that old swimming pool into glowing fun but this ball pit has to be my favorite.

Tutorial/Source: growingajeweledrose

13. Cool Summer Water Balloon Station

If your little ones – or even your big ones – like playing with water balloons, you can turn that swimming pool into the perfect water balloon station. Water filled balloons can be stored in the pool which seriously cuts down on the mess on your deck or backyard.

There are so many wonderful games that can be played with this station and if you’re planning a snowball fight during the winter, you can use the pool to store your premade snowballs, too.

Tutorial/Source: mypartyplanner

14. Baby Beach Fun

If you are planning a trip to the beach and you have tiny little ones, take along an inflatable swimming pool. This isn’t really a repurpose in the sense that you will be using the pool in its traditional form, but it’s a great tip to make your vacation a bit less stressful.

You can put the pool in a shaded area and then fill it up with water from the ocean. Let the tiny little ones play in the pool while you relax in the shade and everyone is happy.

Tutorial/Source: batonrougemoms

15. Extra Large Bubble Fun

Use that plastic swimming pool to make a huge bubble station. When you fill the pool with bubble solution and use a hula hoop to make the bubbles, your little ones will be thrilled. You can actually create a human sized bubble and they will love being inside the bubble until it pops. You can also let them use their smaller bubble wands to play but who wouldn’t love to make a human sized bubble?

Tutorial/Source: onecharmingparty

16. Doggone Perfect Swimming Pool

If your little ones have outgrown their little kiddie pool then you can simply turn it into a pool for your dogs. Dogs love swimming, too, especially on those scorching summer days.

This is a great way to keep your little pooches cooled down and give them some fun at the same time. Just fill the pool with water like you would for your kids and let the dogs have some fun. If you really want to go all out for your furry friends, dig a hole and make them an inground pool.

17. Easy DIY Chicken Brooder

You can turn two plastic kiddie pools into the perfect figure eight chicken brooder. Just put the two pools together and connect with duct tape. Then add your essentials and your baby chicks will have all the room they need to grow and play.

They will love jumping back and forth from one pool to the next and this is large enough for them to grow quite a bit before they are released into your larger coop.

Tutorial/Source: pixiechickens

18. Build Your Own Romantic Getaway

Every now and again, it’s great to get away with your significant other for just some you time together. One great way to do this, especially if you have little ones and can’t find a baby sitter, is to just plan a night in the backyard.

After the kids are asleep, inflate a kiddie pool, add some blankets and pillows and just relax the evening away in your own private little love nest. Add some chocolate covered strawberries and champagne and you’ve got quite a date.

Tutorial/Source: thedatingdivas

19. Massive DIY Easter Basket

If you’re looking for a great way to repurpose that plastic swimming pool, why not turn it into a massive basket next Easter? You can clean it up and fill it with fake Easter grass. Then add all sorts of goodies from full sized baskets to plastic eggs and you can even hide eggs and candies under the grass to give them an extra Easter egg hunt. I love the idea of having a large basket for the entire family and you can add your individual baskets for each child in, too.

Tutorial/Source: kkyr

20. Fun Gold Panning Station

If you want to teach your little ones a bit of history, why not turn that plastic pool into a cool gold panning station?

They will have a blast panning for “gold” and you’ll be able to tell them all about the gold rushes of yesteryear.

This is also great for cowboy themed birthday parties. Just fill the pool with a bit of dirt and water and hide “gold” in it. They can use old baking pans with holes punched in them to sift through the dirt to find their prize.

Tutorial/Source: allfortheboys

Conclusion

There are so many ways that you can reuse those old plastic swimming pools and several ways to repurpose those inflatable pools, as well.

You can definitely put those pools to use by building a giant birds’ nest or creating the perfect ball pit and even making a container for huge bubbles – by the way, there’s a great tutorial on making huge bubbles here.

Whatever you choose to do with them, know that when you repurpose those plastic swimming pools, you are helping to save the environment because you’re not just throwing that old plastic into a landfill.

That’s got to make you want to repurpose them even more!

Whether you want to build a container garden, fill the pool with ice and make the world’s largest cooler or even build a duck pond, there is a wonderful way for you to reuse that old swimming pool and we’re going to take a look at the top 20 ways to do so.

Grab those old pools and your imagination and let’s get creative!

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Maven Moment: Cooling Off in the Kiddie Pool | Earth 911 says:

July 22, 2020 at 8:56 am

[…] do when the kids have outgrown the pool? I looked up “kiddie pool reuses” and I found a lot of cool ideas. You can turn it into a little raised bed garden or make a mini-greenhouse by clustering pots of […]