Summer Fun Day 9 -Swimming

Swimming

Read: Simming by Tracy Nelson Maurer

Discuss: Let's talk about water safety...

1. Never get in a pool without an adult to watch you.
2. Review CPR.
3. Don't go into deep water if you are not a good swimmer.
4. Never push or dunk other children under the water.
5. Always stay calm.
6. Wear plenty of sunscreen.
7. Swim near the shore... swimming in an open body of water takes more energy than swimming in a pool because of the currents.

Swimming Safety

Directions:

1. Go to the Kids Pool Safety Game to review about swimming safety.
   
   

Gone Swimming Plaque

Materials:

• 8 inch cardboard oval plaque
• Nail
• Acrylic paint (antique white, and tan)
• Paper towel
• Black Sharpie
• Glue
• Water
• Sand
• Starfish and other sea shells
• Hot glue gun
• String

Directions:

1. Use the nail to punch 2 holes near the top of the plaque.
   
2. Paint plaque with antique white and let it dry. Repeat with a second coat and let dry. 
   
3. Dip yo brush paint brush into tan paint and dab off all excess onto a paper towel. Paint brush should be almost dry. Add tan touches to the middle of the oval where you want your words to be. Let it dry.
   
4. Write “Gone Swimming” with the black Sharpie on the tan area.
   
5. Mix together a nickel size amount of white craft glue and a little water, just enough to thin the glue out so you can paint with it. Paint on the glue mixture wherever you would like the sand to stick (around the words). This must be done in about 3-4 sections so that the glue doesn't dry before you add the sand. Add the sand and let it dry.
   
6. Use the hot glue to add the starfish and other sea shells around the words.
7. Tie each end of the string to one of the holes at the top so you can hang your plaque.
   

Swimming Lessons

Teaching your child to swim can be very overwhelming. Here are a few things to remember.

1. Stay calm and teach your child to stay calm as well.
2. Learning CPR will also help you feel more able to be your child's swimming teacher.
3. Goggles are good to keep the water our of their eyes.
4. Let them play as much as they want to get used to the water. If they shy away from the water do not rush them. Just be sure to keep a very close eye on them while they play.
5. Show your child how to hold their breath. Practice out of the water first, just holding their breath for a few seconds at a time. Then have them try while they are standing or sitting in the pool. Have them stick their head down in the water and try (never force them to do it). Wait to continue another day if your child is having trouble with this step.
   
6. If you are teaching a baby how to hold their breath start by slowly dumping a cup of water over their head or gently blow in their face.
7. Get some floaty noodles or kick boards to help at the start of learning how to swim.
   
   Teach them how to float on their face on top of the water, they can use the floaty toys for as long as they need. Teaching a child and baby to float is very important because it is a way that they can save their own life if they ever fall into a deep pool.
8. To teach a baby how to frontal float stand in front of them with your arms out and palms up holding onto their shoulders.
9. To teach an older child hot to frontal float stand in front of them with your hands on their waist and his hands on your shoulders.
   
10. Now teach them how to kick and propel themselves through the water. They can use the floaty toys or the edge of the pool for this part. Show them how to alternate kicking their feet. Always stay close even though they have the floaty toys.
    
11. Next is adding a paddling motion with their hands. Show your child how he can just stretch his arms out in the water with his palms down and push the water back towards his body. Soon they will be doggie paddling across the pool.
12. Practice make perfect, let them play and practice as much as possible so they will remember it all next summer.
    I did all of these steps with J for 2 summers and he never got the hang of it.  Then at the beginning of this summer he spent everyday for a week in the pool with his friends and the next thing I knew he was swimming all the way across under the water.  So don't give up, they will remember from year to year.

Swimming Addition

J used this Swimming Addition print out to practice his double digit adding.

Pool Games

Directions:

1. Add On - The first child goes underwater and completes a task or trick, such as front flip, back flip, touch the bottom with their hand, sit indian style on the bottom, twirl with their body horizontal in the water, etc. 
   
   The next child does this trick and then "adds on" their own trick . Then, the next child does the first two tricks in order and "adds on" a third and so on. Eventually, the sequence of tricks will get so long that a player cannot complete it due to shortness of breath or they just can't remember the order. They are out and the remaining children continue until there is only one person left.
   
2. Dolphin - One child is the swimming "flippers" and the other is the "tail". The flippers lead the effort across the pool using their arms only while the tail hangs on to flippers waist and does the kicking. Make sure that flippers know that their legs should only touch the bottom of the pool and not kick to avoid injury.
   
3. Marco Polo - This game is played with three or more children. At any time there is one chosen player, "It", who must swim around the pool with his or her eyes closed, attempting to tag the other players. The "It" player can only sense where the other players are by sound, but may call out "Marco!", then all of the other players are must to yell "Polo!". When the "It" player tags another player, the one who was tagged becomes "It".