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Time to Play! Body Shape and Position

Kids learn by playing. The more you can make learning to swim fun for your kids, the more they’ll like it, the quicker they’ll learn, and the more fun you’ll have teaching them. This game helps kids learn how their bodies feel when they’re in the best position for swimming.

At home, have your child watch himself in the mirror, standing with his arms above his head. Hold something just above his fingertips and have him stretch to reach it. How does it feel? Turn the exercise—it’s a great stretch, by the way—into a game by making marks on the wall to see what his maximum reach is. Now it’s your turn. Have your kids stand on a stepstool or ladder to hold something just beyond your reach.

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Teaching Swimming Body Shape and Position: Stage 2

Yesterday’s post showed how you can start to teach kids swimming body shape and position on dry land. Here’s how to move the swimming lesson into the pool.

The Next Stage of Teaching Kids Swimming Body Shape and Position

In the pool, you can practice doing streamline glides on the stomach, back, and sides to get a feel for the differences. Finally, have your child concentrate on the difference between how his body moves in the water when he’s dog paddling and how it moves when he’s streamlined. Does one way of moving feel more like real swimming?

Ask your child to try things in the water. How would your body move if you were really slippery? What could you do to feel slippery in the water? How would your body move if it weighed nothing? What could you do to feel like you weigh nothing in the water? (Practice shifting balance to see what feels more like weightlessness.)

When you’re starting out, stand just a few pace from the edge of the pool and let your child aim for the pool, preferably ending right at the steps so that he doesn’t have to lift his head and arms out of position to grab onto the edge. You can also have him push off from the side and aim for you.

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Teaching Swimming Body Shape and Position: Stage 1

When fish swim, they’re graceful. They’re balanced. They’re slippery. They move efficiently, with each motion propelling them through the water. A well designed boat slices through the water, creating as little resistance and drag as possible. What does this have to do with teaching kids to swim?

Importance of Body Shape and Position in Teaching Kids to Swim

The shape and position of the body in the water make a huge difference to how well the body moves through the water. Before even considering teaching your child strokes, you have to teach him to feel his body in the water and to shape his body in the water. This is a great swimming skill to start to teach even before you get into the pool.

The First Stage of Teaching Swimming Body Shape and Position

You’re aiming for a long, balanced body position. The longer you can make your body in the water, the faster you’ll move. Kids tend to revert to a dog paddling position, with their bodies close to vertical in the water and their arms bent and close to their bodies.

Have your child lie on the ground outside the pool or at home, on his back or his stomach. Don’t forget to put a towel down to make him comfortable if you’re practicing on hard ground. Ask him how his body feels while he’s lying down. What’s the feeling in his limbs? How about in his belly? What about his head? Compare this to how it feels to sit or stand.

Practice the streamlined position until it feels natural. Have your child practice not just lifting his arms overhead but stretching them as if he’s reaching for something just beyond his fingertips. Keep the body in a streamline position, with the arms reaching forward, the arms and head in line with the torso, the chest pressing down into the water, and the legs in line with the torso. Practice it on the ground outside the pool.

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Time to Play! Gliding

Kids learn by playing. The more you can make learning to swim fun for your kids, the more they’ll like it, the quicker they’ll learn, and the more fun you’ll have teaching them. This way of practicing gliding in the streamline or torpedo position is sure to make the whole family giggle.

Play catch with your gliding child as the ball. (You’ll need another adult for this one.) How far can the ball go? What kind of ball is he? Maybe he’s an arrow instead, or a javelin. Let him choose. Make a big deal out of the catch. Try not to tickle him too much, unless he likes it.