Swimming must be made a safe and enjoyable activity for kids to truly benefit from it. Summer vacation has always been associated with swimming time especially for the kids. Even before its start is formally announced in school, many children will be asking their parents to bring them to the nearest pool or a farther beach destination.
Benefits of Swimming
Aside from being the most refreshing activity to do in summer, swimming provides many benefits not only to children but to adults as well.
1. Swimming is able to provide various health benefits including the stimulation of muscles and strength development without the usual stress and impact associated with other exercises. It is also an ideal cardiovascular workout which children wouldn't actually mind since most would be willing to be in the water for an extended period of time.
2. Swimming facilitates social benefits. The activity encourages children to interact with other children. It is quite seldom that a child would enjoy swimming alone and in one corner. Competitive swimming develops positive attitudes in children including sportsmanship, discipline, and teamwork.
3. Learning to swim can save lives. In fact, swimming is the only sport that can achieve that. Acquired skills in swimming is useful up to adult life.
How to Make Swimming Safe and Enjoyable for Kids
1. Parents should make sure that children learn how to swim from a responsible adult. If they cannot do it themselves, they can enroll their kids in swimming classes to learn even the basics. Unless a child wishes to engage in swimming competitively, it may not be necessary to take all the swimming classes recommended by swimming schools. Taking them though, if possible, equips children with more skills they can use to keep them safe or save others, when necessary.
2. It is always best to have children swim in suitable attire and use appropriate equipment. There is a reason why swimming attires and equipment have been designed that way. It is also a must to use sun protection to prevent painful sunburning of their young skin.
3. Children should always be reminded not to indulge in unsafe activities in the pool or beach such as pushing, intentional diving over another, and anything that can result to bodily injury and accidents. Swimming is a fun activity but the slippery physical environment plus the deep water are not exactly conducive for safe pranking or jokes.
My Say
Learning to swim is probably one of my biggest frustration in life. I never had a chance to learn it and that has severely limited the enjoyment I derive from swimming activities. I hope to change that with my children.
That said, I am seriously thinking of learning how to swim. I have included it in my personal bucket list of things I want to accomplish in life. Oh well, better late than never.
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