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Time to Play! Going Underwater

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. Putting their heads underwater is a tough skill for many kids to learn. They need something to distract them from the unfamiliar feeling. This game will help kids to practice this important skill without realizing they’re practicing. It’s fun for the teacher, too.

Play scuba diver. Have your child duck under and look around while you swim past him like a fish. Now swim by like a dolphin. Now a mermaid. Be creative. Take requests. What undersea creatures would your scuba diver like to see? Even a bad aquatic impression is entertaining. (Sometimes the bad impressions are the most entertaining.)

This is a great way to teach your kids to swim while they think they’re just having fun. If your child resists wearing goggles, this will encourage him to try them. You’ve got to wear the goggles to see your swimming teacher’s best fish faces.

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Time to Play! Blowing Bubbles

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. Blowing bubbles helps your kids learn to get used to putting their faces in the water. It also helps with regulating breathing. You don’t have to be in the pool to work on this skill. Try this game at the kitchen table.

Have your child blow through a straw into a glass of soapy water and see what happens. Have fun with it. Who cares if there’s a spill? It’s all about making bubbles. Does how hard your child blows make a difference in the quality and quantity of bubbles? How about how fast he blows?

Why doesn’t that happen in the pool? Talk about it. Take a straw to the pool the next time you have a swimming lesson and try it out.

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Time to Play! Getting out of the Pool

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. One of the most important skills you can teach your child is how to get out of the pool. Here’s a way to use creativity and imagination to make practicing this critical skill fun.

Be like a monkey. Be like a crab. Be like a spider, an octopus, a sea star, a lemur. Be like a ladybug holding onto a blade of grass. How would all of these animals move along the wall? What other animals would use clinging and scooting as a way to move?

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Time to Play! Feeling the 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. Here’s a great game to help your kids get a feel for the water.

Ask your kids to describe how the water feels. Make suggestions of your own. Does the water feel like pudding? Baby food? Milk? Juice? Watermelon?

Throw in some choices that are really silly. How silly can you get?

This game has the added benefit of providing free, frequent reinforcement of the lesson. Whenever your kids eat pudding or watermelon, they’ll get a reminder of the game, the fun you had playing it, and the way the water actually felt.