Infant Swimming With Parents

“Water is a great place to bond with your child and learn to read their cues and communication skills”

1. Watch kids when they are in or around water, without being distracted. 2. Teach children how to swim. 3. Make sure kids know how to swim and have these five water survival skills: ***Step or jump into water over their heads. ***Return to the surface and float or tread water for one minute. ***Turn around in a full circle and find an exit from the water. ***Swim 25 yards to exit the water. ***Exit from the water. If in a pool, be able to exit without using the ladder. 4. Install fences around home pools. 5. Empty kids’ pools after each use

3 Fun and Easy Games 1. Talk to the fishies Practice talking to pretend fishies by getting your child to blow bubbles in the water. Then ask him to put his ear in the water to listen to the pretend response. Skill: Breath control, which is the first step in teaching your child to swim independently. Accidentally swallowing water can be a frightening setback, so make sure you encourage him to submerge his face and blow bubbles to increase his comfort level in the water. 2. Red light, green light Sit next to your child on a shallow step of the pool. If your child is a little older, he can hold onto the side of the pool, facing the wall. When you say green light, have him kick like crazy! A red light means stop, and yellow light means kick slowly. Skill: Kicking and propulsion.

3. Motorboat front float Securely hold your child under his arms, facing you. Start walking backward through the water. As you pick up a little speed, the water will gently push him into a front float position. Spin slowly in a circle and chant, “Motorboat, Motorboat, Go So Slow.” Pick up a little speed and say, “Motorboat, Motorboat, Go So Fast.” With the last line “Motorboat, Motorboat, Step on the Gas!” you can either blow bubbles or encourage your child to kick his feet. Skill: Becoming comfortable in a horizontal swimming position.

“Remember, you can’t always be there “Remember, you can’t always be there. Learning to swim may save your kids life one day”

To learn more about our kids swimming lessons, please call us at (1-855-WSS-SWIM) or visit our swimming lesson web page http://www.watersafe.com/lessons/