Time to Play! Treading Water

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. Try using this game to teach your kids how treading water feels in different positions.

Have your kids move in the water like ducks. Like dogs. Like bears. Like elephants. Show them videos of land animals in the water. What’s as fun as watching an elephant swim? This is also a great time to talk about how humans may have to learn to swim, unlike other land animals that are born knowing how, but how we can become much more graceful swimmers than the animals that tread water all the time.

March 3, 2011February 22, 2011

5 Keys to Teaching Kids to Tread Water

Once you’ve taught your kids the basics of treading water, you’re ready to teach them these five keys that will let them tread water for a long time with minimal effort.

Teaching Kids Five Keys of Treading Water

Over the course of several lessons, you can teach them these nuances to help your kids get stronger and more efficient at this important swimming skill.

Slow Movements

When they’re first learning to tread water, your kids will get tired easily. They’ll move his arms and legs quickly. It’s counterintuitive, but moving their arms and legs slowly will support them better than moving them quickly. Have them experiment with speed.

Egg-Beater Legs

As he becomes more comfortable, have him experiment with moving his legs like old-fashioned eggbeaters. With both of his legs bent at the hip and the knee, as if he’s sitting in a chair, have your child move first one leg and then the other, with the motion coming from the knee. Ask him to draw a big circle in the water with one toe and then the other, moving the toe forward and then toward the center of his body before bringing it back, away from the center, and forward again.

Alternating Movements

Have him work toward moving both legs at the same time. The rhythmic, alternating movement of the legs means that when one foot is forward, the other foot is back. This method of moving the legs is so efficient that it allows you to tread water without using the arms at all.

Figure 8 Hands

Have him practice making figure 8’s with his hands, making his hands into cups to maximize water resistance.

Minimal Effort

Have your child practice treading water with as little effort as possible. If he’s breathing hard, ask him to slow down. Take as many breaks as necessary, and work toward the point where your child can tread water for five minutes without taking a break, touching the bottom, or holding onto the side of the pool.

March 1, 2011February 22, 2011

Why Teaching Your Kids to Tread Water Matters More Than Teaching Them to Float

Lots of swimming lessons teach kids the back float early on, but that’s counterproductive. Why?

Why Teaching Kids to Tread Water Should Come Before Teaching Them to Float

Treading water is important for water safety. While many swimming programs emphasize floating, floating is actually a more advanced skill. Although it helps kids to learn the idea of how their body should be positioned in the water—horizontally—their body composition and shape make it very tough for kids to learn to float without moving.

Treading water, on the other hand, is an easy, natural motion for your child. It will give him confidence in the water and help to develop his feel for how his body moves in the water.

While it’s a good thing to learn to float eventually, focusing on floating when your kids are just starting their swimming lessons can leave them demoralized and ready to give up. If they can tread water effectively, they can start to gain the confidence that will help them move on to more advanced swimming skills quickly and easily.

February 28, 2011February 22, 2011

Teaching Swimming Body Shape and Position: Mastery

When your kids have learned how to glide in streamline position, you can start to teach them the idea of rolling in the water to make their swimming stronger. This land exercise is the precursor to a lifetime of rolling in the water.

Teaching Your Kids to Roll When They Swim

Eventually, most of your child’s time swimming will be spent rolling from side to side, slicing through the water, instead of on his stomach, pushing through the water. Because of the way the shoulder joint moves, swimming on your side allows you to be even longer. You can give your child a feel for this on land. Have him stand facing a wall with his body touching it. Ask him to stretch both hands up. Have him keep his fingertips against the wall and twist his torso from side to side.

When the side of his body twists close to the wall, that arm reaches higher than it does when his torso is flat against the wall. The same thing happens in the water. Doing this will also help him feel how his core and back muscles move when he rotates. Eventually, that’s what your child will aim for in the water.