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Learn swimming with games is an important life skill for children, and when they feel swimming is fun, they want to keep swimming. But how to make swimming feel fun? to keep children motivated, and engaged. Well, games are a great place to start. You can create a swim lesson by using games.
Here are five games that you can use to teach your child learn to swim without realizing they’re doing it.
Talk To The Fishes – Blow Bubbles
You can pretend that you are talking to fishes by blowing bubbles, and ask your child to do the same as you are. After he blows bubbles, ask him to listen to what the fishes are saying as a response, and when he puts his ear on the water, stand one meter away, you can say something as loud as you can in the water so he can hear it.
Always make sure when you come up after submerging your face and blowing bubbles, you come up with a smile on your face. Your little one will be more apt to try this if he sees how much fun you have while doing it.
This practice is to increase your child’s breath control, and this is the first step in teaching your child to swim independently.
Catch The Fishes or Copying Animal Movement – Arm Movement
To practice this exercise, first you have to make sure that your pool is at your child’s waist to chest high. Then you can put animal floating toys or fish toys, stand at the edge at the pool, and ask your child to catch the animal toys or grab the toys by his hands by using the front crawl arm stroke movement.
This will get your child used to the arm action necessary to start swimming on his own. You also can add a song and sing it together while he is doing the exercise.
This exercise is to develop your child’s arm movement, and to get your child used to it when he is swimming.
Superman Arm Front Float – Horizontal Swimming Position
For this exercise, you can hold your child under their arms by facing you, or you can hold your child under his arm standing on their side.
If you hold your child facing you, start walking backward through the water. As you pick up a little speed, the water will gently push your child into a front float position.
Spin slowly in a circle and chant, “Superman, superman, fly so slow.” Add up a little speed and say, “Superman, superman, fly so fast.” With the last line “Superman, superman, fly to the moon” and also ask your child to blow bubbles and encourage him to kick their feet.
This exercise is to make your child have a horizontal swimming position.
Red Light, Green Light – Kicking Exercise
On a shallow part of the pool. Ask your child to hold the edge of the pool, facing the wall. When you say green light, ask your child to kick as strong as he can or kick a big splash, a red light means he has to stop kicking but ask him to keep his leg horizontal, and yellow light means he has to kick slowly.
This exercise is to form a good and propulsive kicking.
Taking The Plunge – Swimming Independently
In the shallow end about two feet away from the edge of the pool, by facing the wall, hold your child on their waist, and ask him to stand on your knees. Then ask him to bend their knees and jump off from your knees and grab on the wall. Let him hang on to the wall for a moment so he can get used to supporting his body weight until you come over and grab him to try it again.
Gradually increase your distance from the wall, and remind your child to move his hand like catching the animal toys and kick his feet until he grabs the edge of the wall. He may struggle the first few times, but keep encouraging him and applauding his progress.
This exercise will increase your child ability to swim independently.