Bath Time, Swim Time: Build Your Child’s Water Confidence
One of the easiest ways to help your child learn to swim is to work on simple skills during bath time. Playing during bath time will make bathing more fun, and build their confidence in the water. One of the biggest challenges while teaching swim lessons, is over coming a fear of the water; however, children are in the water almost everyday, so no child should be afraid of the water. Help your child by working on the following fun, simple skills while in the bath tub. Parents can start working on these skills when children are as young as 3 months old.
Here are 4 bath time activities that will help your baby learn-to-swim!
1. Practice getting baby’s face wet
There are many adults who are afraid of submerging their heads fully under water, so it’s hard to blame a toddler for being apprehensive. That’s why it’s important to get your child comfortable with water on their face ASAP. You can do this by first wetting different parts of their face. Move on to a slow trickle of water over your child's face and down the back of the head.
2. Teach unassisted floating in the tub
Bath time is a great and safe way to teach baby how to float! Start by laying your child on their back and holding them in floating position while helping them relax. The best place to hold them while they are on their back is with you sitting behind them at their head, and holding them underneath their arms.
3. Teach bubble blowing
Blowing bubbles teaches children how to clear their nasal passages when they don’t have any free hands to plug their nose. One way to do this is to blow ping pong balls across the surface of the water. You can teach bubble blowing by making funny noises while blowing. Not only is this fun for your toddler, it also prepares them for skills they’ll need in formal swimming lessons later on.
4. Use bath toys or household items that they can interact with in the tub.
Not only do bath toys help your little one develop their motor skills, but this kind of play time in the bath allows them to use their limbs more freely in the water.
Remember: Swimming is an essential life skill! It’s important to ingrain these habits into children at a young age, so when they’re older, water safety becomes second nature. After all, the #1 way to prevent drowning is to learn how to swim!
So if your child is already a fish in a bowl, maybe it’s time to introduce your little fish to the pool!
Original References: Guest Blogger from Aquamobile
http://thetotsquad.com/blog/bath-time-swim-time-build-your-babys-water-confidence