Swim Lesson Games for All Ages

Since parent child swim classes are designed around parents and their babies, typically aged from six months to three years old, stereotypical games may be seen as irrelevant and unhelpful as their motor skills are not very developed yet. That being said, get your vocal chords ready because songs are the go-to move to put a baby at ease and happy.

Songs are a great tool not only to make the lesson more lively, but to relax the infant during certain activities that may seem frightening to them. For example, every time parents turn their child onto their back to work on floating, simply singing, “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,” will relax them. Hearing your voice and using a familiar song puts them at bay and takes them back to a safe place.

Check out some of my favorites!

Hokey Pokey

A great interactive song to move your baby along to. Form a group and get started.

"You put your hands in, you put your hands out,
you put your hands in and you paddle them about,
you do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself around,
that’s what it’s all about…"

Crocodile Song:

For students sitting on the wall working on jumping in.

"Crocodile, crocodile standing on the wall,
crocodile crocodile in you fall – ready go"

Ages Four to Seven: A bit more active but not ready to race yet, keeping things silly and fun are ways to get them engaged while still learning.

Dunkin’ Donuts:

No, not the fast food chain but a game working on blowing bubbles underwater while making dinosaur noises. Little random? Perhaps, but so are the minds of kids in this age group.

"Dunkin… Dunkin… Donuts!" When ending with "donuts" the students put their faces in the water and blow their bubbles out of their mouth and noise. When returning to the surface start again only this time ending in "roar." Beware, this could get load. When saying dinosaur the students make their very best roar sound.

Red Light, Green Light and Yellow Light:

Sitting on the wall, have the students practice a kicking exercise. Green light, the students kick as hard as they can, push the point of making white water. Next, yellow light, a soft kick. Finally, red light when the kicking comes to a halt. Repeat as many times as you feel fitting.

Important: In order to tie it into their swimming, I always say that when swimming freestyle or backstroke, they should have a green light kick so that their hips stay up and they do not begin to sink.

Ages Eight and Up:

Its race time! This age group is very competitive and love to race. Since their stroke development is typically fairly well at this age, and they are able to swim the length of a pool, have them race in some friendly competition.

I send them in pairs to make it easier. While there is no prize for the winner in order to keep feelings safe, high fives to everyone are always welcome.

Being a swim instructor means more than just teaching swim lessons, but to be a good sport as well. Encourage them to high five each other and say good job to everyone. Teaching encouragement is just as important as teaching the strokes themselves.

It’s important to put yourself in the kid’s position and what would keep you engaged and happy during a lesson. Incorporating games to have them interact with each other and grow is the best way to ensure that they cannot wait to come back.

About the Author: Clairissa Myatt
Clairissa Myatt is a Sunsational Swim Instructor in Boca Raton, Florida
She has recently graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Communications and spent her undergrad time as a Division II swimmer. After graduation, she knew she was not ready to give up her love of swimming so she found a new way to continue: teaching. In addition to working with Sunsational Swim School, she is also a swim instructor at a YMCA in South Florida. There, she is able to both coach a team and teach others to swim of all ages. Clairissa see’s swimming as more than just a survival skill to know, but a life investment.