This is a very simple game you can play multiple ways.
Hold 2 hula hoops underwater and have your child streamline through them. Hold them close enough to the wall so the swimmer can get through both by pushing off the wall.
Give clear goals that are “difficult” but easy to accomplish. For example, the first time they go through the hoops do it normally in streamline on their stomach. The second time, have them go through on their side, then on the back. Each new “goal,” / challenge will increase the fun and sense of accomplishment for your swimmer. By changing how they go through the hoops, you’ll prolong the relatively simple nature of the “game.”
This seems like a stupid thing to write about or talk about. Jumps. Really? something that simple?
Yes.
Jumping into the pool w/ assistance or without works on a number of different skills and can be a good gauge of trust and progress.
Here are a few:
Go underwater?
Will listen to instructor without hesitation (shows trust level)
blow bubbles with nose
deep water or shallow
jump away from the wall
jump in but turn in air to grab wall (DANGER!!! could hit face on lip of pool edge)
after jump, swim to instructor?
type of jump
To effectively teach a novice who does not go underwater how to jump in:
Have them stand on the edge of the pool, feet curled over the edge
Have swimmer hold your fingers, then you hold their hand. (your hands should be thumbs up, fingers pointing together, backs of your hands pointing away from the pool or at the swimmers shoulders.
Tell swimmer exact number they’ll jump in at
Reinforce that they will not have to go underwater
once you’ve counted to the agreed number, say GO!
Lift your hands up and have their body go below their arms. (this way they’ll hold on to your hands to hold them up, and experience the feeling of falling buy yet maintain control over the depth they go in
Let your hands stay above the water so they pull on your hands to stay up.
For experienced swimmers:
Specify a number of jumps they get to do
For each one or all, give them a specific goal to accomplish with each one
Examples:
– Jump in 5 times and touch the bottom with your feet first then your hand.
– Jump in 4 times and after each one do 1 somersault underwater before you get to the surface.
– Jump in 3 times and after each one you must do freestyle swim to me(instructor) and back stroke back to the wall.
– Jump in 2 times, and each time only do BR kick to get to surface and back to wall
– Jump in 1 time and blow bubbles with only your mouth (see what happens 🙂 )
The picture has someone holding their hands as if they were going to catch a football. If you do this the child will leap for you and kick you in the face or stomach. DO NOT DO THIS!!!!! Hold their HANDS! To transition between holding hands at the beginning and not holding at all, have them jump FOR your hands. Remember, don’t move them once they jump or you’ll destroy their trust.
Alligator walks are a great thing to do with novice and little swimmers. This game/activity is perfect for swimmers under 6 years old. This swimming lessons game is excellent!
This works best in a zero-depth pool (beach like simulated pool).
Lay on your belly and use your arms to hold your head above the water. Start in the shallowest part of the pool
Stretch your legs out behind you
“walk” using your arms and kick your feet. Goal is to simulate front glides/floats but using arms to hold up.
Encourage kids to blow bubbles, or look down and walk
If bold, walk towards deeper water so kid’s arms are just long enough to keep mouth above water.
Use this game / activity in conjunction with games like Treasure Hunt, or other location based games.
PROTIP!! Go somewhere as a group doing Alligator walks, do something at that other location, then return to home with Alligator walks.
Video of a 1.2 year old doing alligator walks on her own in a zero-depth kiddie pool:
This is the best swimming lessons game of all time. Buckethead’s success is directly proportional to the amount of enthusiasm the instructor puts into it. With action, fearlessness, and boldness this can be the most successful game of all time.
Get a bucket/pail/bowl
Fill it with water
pour it over the participant’s head while shouting/singing/saying loudly, “BUCKETHEAD!!!”
Pour water from the back of the head forward. Always begin the pour from the back of the head so as to avoid the eyes and face unless certain the participant is ready for a full immersion.
Give bucket to the participant and allow them to do the same to instructor; must yell “BUCKETHEAD!”
The success from this comes from the demand for yelling buckethead. Offer it as a reward: “Well done! You get 2 bucketheads.” You will receive many smiles.
PROTIP!! Modify this by doing buckethead on the shoulders or over the hair and not the face. Some hesitation comes when participants don’t go underwater or like water in their face. Have them look up and do BUCKETHEAD over their hair and down their back. “accidentally” get some over their face and ignore any crys or hesitation with a huge smile and a congratulatory “GREAT JOB!” Immediately have them do the BUCKETHEAD to you.
When do I jump in again?
A great game to play in a diving well or in the deep end of the pool. This Swimming lessons game, Pigeon, can be modified to work on any number of skills!
Children line up along the outside edge of the pool, standing. (they can dive in or not as you choose)
The caller announces the “key” word. For this example it will be “Pigeon.”
When the caller says the key word, the children must jump/dive into the water and swim to the other side. The last person there is out, and anyone the jumps/dives in before the key word is spoken is out. (you can say the last person to touch the wall is out, or the last to exit the water. If you do exit the water there are more injuries)
Continue until there is 1 person left, who then becomes the Caller, or gets to choose the “key” words.
The most fun from this game comes from the Caller saying sentences or phrase the people would expect to her the key word in.
EXP: “I was walking down the street in the city and i looked up and saw a flying rat; it was a PIGEON!”
EXP: “You often hear stories about people getting pooped on. Don’t be another casualty! Beware the flying ENGINES!” (use engine b/c it rhymes with the key word PIGEON to get kids to jump in before the key word is said.”
Use rhyming words, or substitute another word for what they expected.
EXP: Key word = FISH “I went to the lake the other day and cast my line, saw it bob up and down and caught a FLASH/FIG/FLUTE, etc”
PRO TIP! Make this game a drill by having your swimmers do a specific stroke or kick to get to the other side. Require them to do breaststroke kick only, or underwater swimming, or only butterfly swim (space permitting).
Pigeon is a speaking game that works for pools with short distances or deep water. There are two main ways to play the game.
1) When you hear the “key” word jump in, last person to jump in is out, and if you jump in on the wrong word out.
2) When you hear the “key” word jump in and swim to the other side. Last person to the other side is out, or if you jumped in before “key” word, you’re out.
Game Rules:
The speaker chooses a “key” word. Speaker announces that the key word is “Cat” (as an example).
The next time that the speaker says the word “Cat” swimmers must either jump in or swim to the other side.
Speaker should speak in sentences designed to trick the listeners and play on their expectations.
Speaker could say: “I am a dog person. I’m not a big fan of BATS because they purr and rub up against your legs. I’m allergic to their FAT hair. In fact, I much prefer Dogs over little kitten, CAPS, and felines. Yup, I avoid CATS as much as possible. Even when I’m walking down the street….”
Substitute a rhyming word or a different word where they would expect you to say the “key” word. This makes the game more funny when they miss hear the word, or sometimes, they’ll miss it altogether.
Much of this game is determined by the confidence and ability of the speaker, which is usually the coach or teacher.
The best thing for infant swimmers is routine. Repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition.
If you play the Hokey Pokey in your class, I suggest you do it at the end of your class session. It can be time consuming, and get monotonous and droll. Focus on a few key points.
Put your feet in and shake them all about. Starting with the feet will re-emphasize kicking that you ideally spent 1/2 your class time working on in some fashion. Remember! Babies/2.5 year olds are not able to fully move their bodies yet in those fine motor movements.
Put your Hand in, put your hand out! Focus on the reaching motion of the arm and the hand. We’re looking for macro movements (long large body motions, not cupped hands and s-curve pulling).
Put you whole face in and blow a bubble out! #1 goal of any preschool class?? Go underwater and make it as natural as possible.
For limited time, and maximum effect, focus on only these three items in your song. Any more and you’ll waste valuable teaching time, and start dipping into the boring repetition of the song.
“You put your [feet] in, You put your [feet] out, You put your[feet] in, And you shake it all about,You do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself around That what it’s all about.2) left arm3) right arm4) Face5) Whole Self (make it a little fun too 😀 )“
Are you a swim teacher looking for some new games to teach your kids? Their are many fun games to lessons to teach kids, but this game is sure to get yours wanting more.
The game is called Sharks and Minnows and this how you play:
This game is for advanced swimmers, or swimmers who have learned how to dive in the deep end.
1. Start by gathering your students up on on side of the pool. Pick one student to play the “shark” and the other students are the “minnows.” The shark starts on one side of the pool and the minnows on the other.
2. The shark yells “dinner time” and the minnows attempt to swim to the to the other side
3. The shark may tag any minnow that is swimming over, once the last minnow is tagged, it becomes the new shark. The game continues till everyone has a chance being a shark.
This game to help kids with diving and swimming to the other side. This will help encourage kids to have in the water.
You can make variations of the shark and minnows game.
* instead of a minnow becoming a shark after being tagged it can become “seaweed” and have to tread water and stay in place. Any minnow that gets close to the seaweed can be tagged and captured and also become seaweed.
*you can make a rule that you can only be tagged underwater
*rule that you can only be tagged when you are above water
There are many variations!!
The shark doesn’t stink, really, it doesn’t.
Are you looking for a new swimming lesson game that uses fun and effective instruction? If so, you might want to try out this game that we have created for our swim students. It is called “Shark Attack” and it is a great way to practice swimming skills and have fun at the same time. In this blog post, we will explain how the game is played, who the game is for, and what skills it works on.
How is it played?
The game is played in a pool with one instructor and a group of students. The instructor acts as the “shark” and the students are the “fish”. The instructor wears a shark fin on their head or back and swims around the pool trying to catch the fish. The fish have to swim away from the shark using different strokes and techniques. The instructor can call out commands such as “switch to backstroke”, “dive underwater”, or “swim faster” to challenge the fish. The fish can also use pool toys or noodles to help them escape. The game ends when the shark catches all the fish or when the time runs out.
Who is the game for?
The game is suitable for swimmers of different ages and levels, as long as they can swim at least one length of the pool without assistance. The game can be adapted to suit different abilities by changing the size of the pool, the number of fish, the speed of the shark, or the commands given by the instructor. The game can also be played with more than one instructor or more than one shark to increase the difficulty or fun.
What skills does it work on?
The game works on various swimming skills such as endurance, speed, agility, coordination, and technique. The game also helps to develop confidence, teamwork, and creativity in swimmers. The game encourages swimmers to try different strokes and movements and to overcome their fears of being chased or caught by a shark. The game also provides feedback and motivation for swimmers to improve their skills and performance.
We hope you enjoyed learning about our new swimming lesson game that uses fun and effective instruction. If you want to try it out with your students or friends, you can find more details and instructions on our website. Happy swimming!
-Get a hoola hoop, or a circular object and make that your “cake”
-Have swimmers circle around the hoola hoop and hold the sides.
-Take turns asking each swimmer what they would like in their cake. Exp: “Susie, what would you like in your cake?” “CHOCOLATE!” “Ok, lets put some chocolate in the cake!”
Take turns splashing water into the hoola hoop and repeat “Put some chocolate into our cake!”
-After each swimmer has put their own ingredient into the cake, have each swimmer grab the edge of the hoola hoop and push it down to their feet to “put the cake in the oven.” Encourage each swimmer to put their nose, mouth or face in the water while doing so.
-Do another short activity while the cake “bakes.”
-Have a swimmer, or swimmers check the cake by putting their face, lips, or nose in the water. Ask, “Is the cake done? Is it ready to eat?”
-Have swimmers reach down to the sunken hoola hoop to their shoulders, or noses if they can, and slowly, heavily, lift the “cake” to the surface.
-Have swimmers blow bubbles on the cake (inside the hoola hoop) to cool it off so you can eat it.
-Eat the cake by either smashing faces into the water inside the cake (voluntarily!), or getting a bucket and dumping onto their faces or heads. Make sure everyone participates! either dump water on their shoulders, on the back of their head, or on their face. If scooping water, make sure they do something to be a part of the fantasy.
-Be enthusiastic, and exclaim how delicious it is!
Skills worked on:
Going underwater, getting face wet, blowing bubbles, kneeling down, scooping water
If you need Hula Hoops for your Swimming Lesson Program, get them here:
A great swim lesson skill for smaller and younger swimmers is called Monkey Walks. To teach Monkey walks in a learn to swim class follow these steps:
The swimmer walks along the side of the pool using their hands and feet to move along the edge. I’ve included a video demonstrating the action.
This is best used when you are going to the deep end to do jumps or dives, and don’t want to waste time by carrying the child or getting out and walking around. It is an especially good game / skill to teach to swimmers that don’t know how to swim. Remember, our goal as instructors is to always keep the child learning the entire time they’re in the water with us!!
*Have swimmer place both hands on the edge or lip of the pool.
*Tell swimmer to place both feet on the wall.
*Using both their hands and feet (like monkey’s) slide or “walk” sideways along the wall to a desired destination.
While in the swimming lesson, do this game to teach how to move in the pool, how to use both hands and feet to move, and to get used to (acquainted with) how the body moves through the water.
Being able and comfortable going underwater is one of the key skills for swimming. One way to acquire this skill is by playing a retrieval game. The rules are simple: throw something that will sink (dive rings or sticks are perfect) into the water and ask the child to retrieve them.
How to play:
*Throw the rings onto the pool stairs so that the child can retrieve them without going underwater.
*Slowly start moving the rings into deeper water.
*As the child gets more comfortable, ask them to retrieve more than one ring per dive.
*When you first start playing, let the child watch as you throw the rings into the pool. As the child gets more comfortable, have them close their eyes or turn around as you throw the rings into the water.
*Many children are uncomfortable opening their eyes underwater without goggles. Have the child wear swim goggles when they first start to play.
Involve many children in the same game:
*Assign a color to each child and ask them retrieve only their color.
*Have each child retrieve all of the rings as an individual. You can time them with a stop watch so the children can race against each other.
*Be careful sending the group into the water without specific instructions. You don’t want underwater fights for rings.
She made her choice!
You can play with anything that will sink:
*Use dive rings or sticks that can be purchased at stores like Target or WalMart.
*Use rocks found around your yard.
*To make the game more difficult use coins. Make it even more difficult by asking older children to bring up a certain amount of money.
Final tips:
*Don’t forget to encourage the child to try again when they come up empty handed.
*Playing this game involves comfort going underwater and holding one’s breath. Both of those skills take time to develop.
*Don’t forget to have fun (perhaps you’ll like playing too)!
