The half term is rapidly approaching and if you’re thinking about the activities you and your child can enjoy together, make sure you include swimming! With pools across the country offering a variety of indoor water activities, there’s plenty of fun to be had in any weather and you can boost your child’s swimming confidence with these 5 simple tips:

1. Take it Slow

Planning a fun, action-packed trip to the pool is great but as a parent, you’ll know that the outing you imagine vs. the reality of it can be two different things. The swimming pool presents new parenting challenges however, it’s important not to rush things. A child’s water confidence can vary largely so be sure to go at the right pace for your child.

2. Support Independence with Swimming Aids

Water confidence comes with experience and although your child may still need you within arm’s reach, you can encourage them to become independent at the pool with swimming aids. We provide a range of swimming aids for kids including arm bands and floatsuits that promote buoyancy as well as inflatable noodles or kickboards that help them let go of a parent’s hand and master those all-important basic strokes on their own.

3. Make it Fun

Swimming pools can be daunting places for little ones but helping them get excited about water activities is a great way to help them overcome any anxieties and feel at ease.

This can begin way before setting off for the pool. Let them select from a fun range of kids swimwear, invest in a few pool toys, let them help you pack your swimming bags and make sure you have everything you need to get involved too! Swimming is a great bonding activity so enjoy it, play pool games with your child and make the pool a place where fun comes first.

4. Practice Makes Perfect

Once your child is confident and comfortable to play in the water, it’s time to teach them how to swim. You can do this as a parent, or you may have already enrolled them in swimming lessons. Following a structured learn to swim programme encourages them to focus on the skills being taught, practice and impress you with everything they’ve learned! Therefore, it’s important to mirror the structure taught as after all, practice makes perfect!

If your child is not already enrolled in lessons, you can create your own structure and make it fun by including things such as swimming aids and games as previously mentioned. The more your child enjoys learning, the more they will progress.

5. Reward Their Efforts

Once you’ve learned to swim, it’s hard to imagine a time when you never knew how but as a learner, every face-dip in the pool, every second spent treading water and every length completed is a major achievement. Rewarding their efforts with a post-swim hot chocolate, a new swimsuit or a simple sticker can be a really effective way of motivating your child to improve their swimming skills.

You can find further tips on helping your little one learn to swim in the Zoggs blog, or order everything you need to nurture swimming confidence in your child from our online store.