Swimming floats and woggles
This week was back and submersion week at swimming. N’s not really that fussed about either one, especially when neither involved his favourite swimming float/mat activities.
It must be strange for the toddlers being on their back. It takes a lot of trust and confidence to flip on your back due to the lack of visibility – let’s face it, who really wants to spend time looking at a swimming pool ceiling.
As soon as N’s on his back, about 5 seconds later, he’ll flip back onto his front and grab for me. None of that ‘back’ stuff going on for my son! Until it comes to kicking, then he doesn’t mind that. Although the downside of kicking while on your back, means a lot of water splashing in the face.
We’re also not that good on doing the ‘swim on your back holding the bubba float behind your head like a pillow’. It must be the most complex of positions to get a toddler into, ensure they hold the float (not sure N’s arms flex into that position!) and hold them. Not sure it’s worth it for us – by the time I’ve manoeuvred him into place, we’ve moved on to another activity. But the bonus is, he’s getting really good at flipping from back to front.
Would you be able to swim with a float behind your head? Not sure I could.
Submersion’s a funny thing. The toddlers are now learning good body shape and swimming on the surface, but they still do the occasional underwater swim along with, like this week, diving for the ‘sinkies’ – funny rubber stick animals that either bob on the surface or sink.
N never wants to go underwater and this week he was dead against it, not even willing to go under with Lynsey. I’d just got over a gammy eye so didn’t want to go under either, so with a bit of cheating and holding the sinky with my foot about halfway down under the water, he was then willing to go under and grab it.
What’s great about Water Babies is that it really encourages the babies and then toddlers to learn discipline which will then help later once they’re at school.
They have to learn to sit on the side and wait to be told in jump or splash in, and the teachers talk to the toddlers as much as the parents when explaining what they’re going to be doing. It means I can encourage N to stop doing his own thing, and listen to and watch what Lynsey’s doing. It’s great to see him really listening as though he’s concentrating on what he’s being told, even if he won’t then do it afterwards!
Hopefully by the time he gets to school, this discipline in learning to listen and watch, will help him later on.
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We blog for Water Babies, however my swimming blogposts and opinions are all my own.