Learn to Swim: Your Questions Answered
Learning to swim and water safety is an essential life skill for everyone.
Our ambassador Sarah is a learn to swim teacher and has 15 years of experience. We asked Sarah why learning to swim is so important and what her top reccomendations are for each stage to make it fun for everyone!
Why is learning to swim important?
Kids and parents can get a boost from swimming!! The brain-enhancing benefits from swimming potentially boost a child’s ability to learn.
Swimming for even short periods of time be in it a learn to swim class designed for babies, toddlers and preschool ages or safe supervised water play at home/local pools are truly beneficial for the cognitive and social development of young minds.
Why are swimming lessons important?
Through games, songs and play time children learn self-awareness, gain independence, all within a safe social aquatic environment. Parents are educated on best practices to teach their children the fundamentals of swimming like breath holding, paddles and kick along with safe entry and exit and more as they take these skills and apply them in class, at home, on holidays or locally plus they have the social benefits of meeting other parents/families with children of similar ages.
Whats the best way to teach kids to swim?
Kids learn best through fun and play so they will leanr to swim faster with a fun environment. This raises the question
What toys, swim aids should you look for when engaging in this crucial playtime and development and when/what age or year should you look at introducing water familiarisation and toys?
Here are some Tips below along with a top pick for happy engaging fun in the aquatics environment for early years learning and swimming.
Stage 1: Starting to swim
Babies and early years toddlers
Swimsure Nappy - These are an essential piece of clothing to have, they are better for the environment, help prevent the embarrassing moments of accidents. Reusable time and time again.
Mum, dad be sure to wear a lose fitting t-shirt for your swimmer to learn to grab a hold of.
Stage 2: Learning to swim and aiding supervised independence
2 years plus
Jet Pack 3 in 1 - A truly unique learn to swim aid. Featuring a rocket design that's cooler than Buzz Lightyear, it aids as kick board and back float.
Encourage little fast kicks whilst using the board. Long reaching paddles and kicks with the back float. Supervised swimming is a must.
Stage 3: Confident swimmers - encouraging independance and supervision
5 years+
Zoggy Dive Rings - Diving and retrieving objects from the bottom of the pool is one of any child's favourite activity! Hours of endless play.
These dive rings can be thrown into the pool and as they fill with water sink to the bottom. The circle allows for easy pick up and return to the surface.
As a learn to swim teacher, supervised water play is a must. We hear many stories of accidents that can prevented by enrolling your child into swimming lessons, 5mths and up is a good starting point. We love to hear how you practise at home as well to build confident swimmers. Swimming is fun, social and lasts a lifetime.
Happy swimming!
