Summer is the season of playing in the water, children naturally like to play in the water, and older children, parents will take advantage of the summer vacation to arrange swimming lessons.
Not to mention that children learn to swim and have a survival skill, maintaining regular swimming habits also has many benefits for physical and mental development.
Exercise most of your child's muscles and improve coordination and flexibility;
Increase lung capacity, improve lung ventilation, and enhance cardiopulmonary function;
Improve your child's ability to adapt to hot and cold changes and reduce asthma attacks;
It helps children develop socially, learn to work as a team and help each other.
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At what age is the best time for a child to learn to swim? Which style to start with? What do I need to prepare?
We invited Mr. Liu from the School of Swimming Sports of Beijing Sport University to give parents a detailed answer.
At what age is the best time for a child to learn to swim?
Not recommended below this age
Image source: Zhan Kuhailuo
There are many different suggestions for the age at which children learn to swim, which we can look at by age group:
➊ Babies under 1 year old are not recommended to learn to swim and can play in the water with parents or professionals
Small babies are not able to lift their heads out of the water well to breathe, there are certain safety risks, especially the use of neck collars for so-called baby swimming training.
➋ Children aged 1~4 years old can try to swim with their children, or start learning to swim under the guidance of professional coaches
The AAP believes that children after the age of 1 can start swimming as long as they are physically and mentally mature and both parents and children are willing.
1~4 years old is the stage when children gradually adapt to the pool and prepare for learning swimming skills.
You can start by taking your child to play some fun games, such as encouraging them to move their arms to reach for a ball, or kick their legs underwater, blow bubbles in the water, etc.
➌ After the age of 4, children can learn "swimming skills" in the true sense of the word.
After the age of four or five, the child's body coordination, physical strength and comprehension skills are further developed, and they are able to control their body movements well, which is more conducive to mastering standard postures.
After becoming familiar with and adapting to the swimming environment, children will be able to learn professional swimming skills such as floating and treading water more smoothly, and gradually learn more complex swimming styles as their learning progress increases.
Image source: Zhan Kuhailuo
Speaking of which, there must be parents who ask, if parents can swim and children play with their parents from an early age, can parents teach them directly?
It is generally not recommended that parents teach their children to swim directly.
Parents teach their children to swim and it is an intimate and enjoyable family activity. But for children in the early stages of learning, learning to swim requires not only the right technical instruction, but most importantly to ensure safety during the teaching process.
If parents are unsure if they have both abilities, it is wise to seek a professional coach.
Whether the child can learn to swim
See if you can do all 3
Image source: Zhan Kuhailuo
Some parents see that their children are 5 years old, and other children of the same age are learning to swim, and they are thinking: Do their children have to sign up for a swimming class as soon as possible?
Not necessarily. Age is not the only node for children to learn to swim, but more importantly, it depends on the development of children's abilities in all aspects.
If your child can do the following 3 things, it will be more beneficial for them to learn to swim:
➊ Be prepared to learn to swim
If you want your child to learn to swim, it is very important to overcome the fear of water, which means that you are not afraid of water.
Especially for young children, the focus is on allowing them to enjoy the water and build confidence and security in the water. In this way, you can concentrate on learning swimming skills and ignore the distractions caused by fear and external factors.
So how do you know that children are not afraid of water? It's very simple, take a shower to drench it from the top of your head when you take a bath, and the child is likely not afraid of water if he doesn't reject it, and has the ability to go to the pool and dare to bury his head in the water.
➋ Physical condition and development are up to standard
● Body coordination: Swimming requires all parts of the child's body to work together, and is a coordinated movement of the arms, legs and torso, and children over the age of 4 have developed good body coordination.
If your child rides a balance bike or bicycle regularly, his coordination and balance will be better.
● Muscle strength: Swimming is inseparable from muscle strength to propel the body forward, and endurance is also needed to maintain underwater activities, so it is important for children to eat a balanced diet and maintain exercise habits.
➌ Basic communication skills
To learn and master swimming skills, children need to have basic comprehension and expression skills to be able to understand + follow the coach's instructions.
For example, be able to understand the knowledge of swimming pool safety, and understand the basic safety rules of not swimming or diving without the escort of an instructor; Another example is the ability to improve and adjust swimming skills under the guidance of a coach.
If your child is lacking in one area, don't be too anxious.
Children are constantly growing, and we can guide them to develop these abilities gradually according to their age, maturity and individual differences, and it is not too late for them to learn to swim when they are older.
What is the best way for children to start learning swimming?
How long does it take to learn? How do I enroll in a class?
A detailed guide for your child to learn to swim
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In addition to focusing on children learning to swim
When buying a swimsuit for your child, you should also pay attention to:
Choose the wrong color of your swimsuit
May make the child "invisible" in the water
Once in danger, it is difficult to be detected in time
How to choose a swimsuit for your child, and what color is safe?
What material is better?
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[1]https://www.parents.com/fun/activities/outdoor/teach-your-child-to-swim/
[2]https://www.healthychildren.org/English/safety-prevention/at-play/Pages/Swim-Lessons.aspx
[3]https://www.royallifesaving.com.au/about/news-and-updates/news/When-is-the-right-time-for-children-to-learn-to-swim
This article is a collaboration with experts
Liu Xurui
Lecturer at China Swimming Institute of Beijing Sport University
This article is reviewed by experts
Dreams
Class 1 swimmer
Senior Social Sports Instructor for Swimming
Planning and production
Curator: Beautiful | Executive Producer: Vigorously
Typesetting: moon cake | Title picture source: Zhan Kuhailuo