At Sea Otter Swim Lessons, we pride ourselves in helping kids and adults be safer in and around the water. We believe that learning water safety skills early on can help prevent accidents and can give children the tools they need in case an accident does occur.
Here are five safety skills your child will learn while in swim lessons with us!
- Permission to enter the pool
We start lessons with our younger swimmers by having them sit on the steps or side of the pool and wait to enter until the swim instructor gives them permission to get in. Our goal in doing this is to teach them good habits and prevent them from ever entering a body of water by themselves.
2. Caterpillars
Caterpillars are when swimmers hang onto the side of the pool and go hand-to-hand along the walls. Not only does this skill help build upper body strength, it also teaches young swimmers to grab onto the wall if the water is too deep.
3. Rollover Rocket
Rollover Rockets teach children to roll over to their back when they need a break or get tired from swimming. This is an important skill because it teaches kids how to take a break in the water when they are tired and prevents them from panicking.
4. Humpty Dumpty with Return
“Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.” We sing this song with our littlest swimmers and in our Parent Tot lessons. The song and skill has children sitting on the ledge and then falling into the pool. After the child falls into the pool, we teach them to immediately return back to the wall.
5. Back float
The back float is a safety skill that we teach early on and continue to teach throughout lessons. Once a person can back float, they can be safer in the water. If they get too tired, need a breath or a break, the back float can always be done.