Four Fun & Easy Games To Teach Your Child To Swim!

Learning to swim is one of the best moments of childhood, but it can take a lot of frantic arm movements and even a mouthful or two of pool water to get there! Like many things, the best way to learn how to swim is to have fun! We’re sure that your little fish will get find their fins in no time with these four fun and easy swimming games!

Bubble Talk

Take it in turns to bubble talk! Have you and the little one duck your heads underwater while one of you listens to other blowing bubbles i.e. ‘bubble talking’! Then come back up, take a few breaths and switch roles. It’s great fun to interrupt what the other one was saying when you’re above the surface. This a great way to teach your little tot how to control their breathing and be more comfortable with their head under the water!

Bump the beach ball

This is a great game to get your little one’s legs kicking! Get a beach ball (though any floating object will do) and tell them to get it from one side of the pool to other just by using their head! They’ll have to kick pretty hard to get the ball across to the other side which will develop their muscles and their kicking action!  It will also teach them how to steer their way through the water! Plus, they’ll look like a cute little seal bumping it along with their nose!

What’s the time Mr. Shark?

It’s best to play this game with a group or both Mum and Dad present – teamwork makes the dream work! The aim of the game is for your little one to swim up to you unnoticed. The game starts with one of the adults facing away from your little one, who has to ask you: ‘What’s the time Mr. Shark?’. In your best shark voice, you reply with an answer: ‘It’s 3 o’clock Little Fishy’. Then your little fishy has to swim towards you whilst you count out the relevant seconds (in this case, three). When you’re done counting, you turn around sharply: If your little one isn’t completely still, you can chase them and gobble them up! This is great for general swimming practice and it’s hilarious – honestly!

Water volcano

Get into the shallow end with your little tot (preferably somewhere they can stand or sit) and have them make a water volcano! That’s right, a water volcano! Get your little swimmer to plunge their hands into the water, then pull the water upwards to create a little splash of rising water. You are the volcano master and control how strong the eruption is: Start off with a rumble (small upward splashes accompanied by your best rumbling volcano impression) and get to a full-blown eruption (where your roaring your head off whilst your little one is throwing as much water as possible into the air)! This is a great way to develop strong arm motion and it’s also a blast! Remind them to keep their fingers closed to improve their swimming technique.

Teaching your little one to swim is great for bonding and creating great childhood memories. Swimming games are a great way to teach your little swimmer some essential skills whilst still having fun! We think games are pretty much the best way to teach your little tot anything, so try our games and see if we’re right! Have fun splashing around!