Practice Swimming Skills At Home

Movement-Control Order? Don’t worry! You can still practice swimming skills at home with your kiddo right in the comfort of your home.

What do you need?

1. Your Body
2. Gravity
3. A couch/ Bed/ Floor/ Chair
4. Bathtub/ Sink/ Containers that can hold water
5. Motivation to get up and PRACTICE
6. Creativity!

Out of the pool doesn’t mean completely out of swim! You can still practice swimming skills at home, have fun, quality family time with your lil ones. Here are some ideas of what you can do.

In the Bathtub/ Sink/ Any Container that can hold water

What can you do?

• Bubbling/ Breathing Control: Gently submerge your face in the water, blow bubbles OUT through NOSE, INHALE above water through MOUTH. Counting together with your lil ones makes it fun. You can practice holding your breath anywhere, the living room, the bathtub, the car! It is an essential life-skill to keep yourselves afloat in the water with proper breathing techniques.   *FUN FACT: The Lungs are natural buoys in human bodies. When filled with air, they will help raise the body to the surface of the water.

Don’t have a bathtub at home? Don’t worry, a DIY aquarium will do the job!

• Kicking: Practice with legs stretched-out front, remember, pointy-toes, straight legs while kicking in reps. This will help your lil ones learn how to move through the resistance when they are in the water.

• Pour-Over: If your lil ones have trouble submerging their heads in the water, this is a fun activity to help them to familiarize themselves with the feeling of having their face and ears covered in the water. All you need is a small bucket/ watering can/ sponge/ loofah, anything that you have laying around at home, dip in in water, pour it over their head and body. A sing-along session is bound to happen!
• Floating: The confined environment in the bathtub might be deemed less frightening for some kids. Practicing back float in the bathtub would help them overcome their fear. Start with your child’s head lying back on your shoulder (as if they are lying on a pillow). Use your hands to support their back, holding their tummy-up to the surface. Have your kiddo submerge their ears in the water, laying flat on the surface of the water.  Gradually progress to independent floating without any support.
  

  Back float in the tub! (With adult supervision, of course!)

• Play “I Spy”:  Have fun playing “I Spy” in the bathtub. Just throw some of your kid’s favourite toys and underwater toys in the tub, Say ‘I spy with my little eye something… (eg. blue, beginning with the letter…)” . This is when they can have fun while applying their breathing control skills.

On the Couch/ Bed/ Chair

What can you do?

• • Safe Water Entry & Exit: Getting into and out of the water safely is a really important skill to master. Practice at the edge of a couch/ bed/ chair as a reminder to your child to always enter and exit the pool in a safe manner.Before all else, practicing how to get in and out of the water SAFELY should come first before learning swimming skills

• Kicking:  Lay on your belly or in sitting position, practice flutter kicks on a couch/ bed/ chair. (Key: Flexible ankles, compact upward and downward movements that are initiated by the hip without bending the knees too much) Click here to watch this adorable daddy and son splashing away on the couch!

Arm Positions & Movements

What can you do?

• Arm Rotation: Practice arm rotation while standing, kneeling, or lying on a flat surface. Encourage your child to fully complete each arm rotation as if they were actually swimming. Coordinate with breathing by rotating the head to the side as they begin to catch and pull, and even kicking when they are ready.  Click here to watch how you can practice windmill arm-movement with your child at home.
• Catch and Scull: Create waves in the water, a great sensory exercise for your child to feel the momentum and waves created with their hands in the water.

Ever played a game called the “Wave machine”? Practice good arm catch underwater while having fun!

(Video Source- SwimRVA:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bt6NAiAksvM)

Follow our Social Media

We are committed to going beyond the limitations of this restricted movement, making swimming possible at home during this period. Stay tuned to our updates on Facebook and Instagram @WAHOOGroup as we will be posting more engaging and FUN ways to practice swimming skills and water-safety skills without getting into the pool!