Water fun season is coming up faster than you think! Are you ready? Are your kids ready? Water is a key component of summer fun, but with water fun comes a need to stay safe around the water.
Swimmers and pre-swimmers alike will need to be reminded of their safety skills, so start talking about only swimming near a life guard, not swimming alone, and always making sure an adult knows you are going to swim!
Additionally, swim skills may have regressed over the winter, so it’s a good idea to make time to get aspiring swim team members to the pool ahead of the beginning of team practice.
If you have a pre-swimmer, you may be hoping they will be swimmers by the end of the summer. One way you can do a HUGE jump start is to get them comfortable blowing bubbles and submerging their face before the season starts! You can do this at home, which is logistically a lot easier than getting them into a pool.
Encourage your pre-swimmer to try bubbles and immersing their face in the bathtub or in a basin. It’s easier for kids to do this when they feel safe- let them wear their goggles and encourage them to put their ear in, their mouth in, to blow bubbles, or to submerge their whole face. If they aren’t ready for that, play a silly game where they blow through a wet wash cloth, or get them to blow a small ball across the surface of the water!
And, last but not least, there is no better time to sign your kid up for swim lessons. Formal swim instruction reduces drowning risk by 85%. See you at the pool!