How Water Games in the Pool Provide Opportunities for Bonding
Looking for more opportunities to spend quality family time together? Swimming as a family provides countless benefits beyond just physical activity.
Shared time in the pool is an excellent way for parents to bond with their children, have fun, and learn safety skills.
Swimming is considered one of the best indoor activities for families, and it’s one form of exercise families can enjoy together even during the coldest months.
7 Benefits of Family Swim Time
Here are some of the benefits your family will enjoy when they swim together:
Strengthening Bonds
Family swim time provides endless opportunities for bonding.
- Have contests, such as handstand competitions or underwater tea parties.
- Form teams for pool games. (Think water basketball or volleyball.)
- Take turns giving each other rides.
- Create wacky dives.
Whatever it looks like for you and your family, quality time in the pool together is an opportunity to be in the moment, to build trust, and to capitalize on children receiving reassurance from their parents.
Through laughter and play, family swim time strengthens relationships.
Gaining Confidence Together
With parents or caregivers by their side, children often feel braver about trying new skills, such as diving, swimming in deeper water, or pushing the limits by swimming longer distances. Parents can reassure their kids, help calm their fears, and relieve anxiety.
When parents model courage in the water, their children feel more free to try new activities. Let your child set the pace, but gently encourage new challenges.
Monitoring Progress
Family swim time allows parents to watch their children’s skills build.
Parents can track:
- Proper kicking
- Correct body position
- Breathing techniques
- Coordination
Family swim time is an opportunity to gauge areas needing improvement and to offer guidance. Learn more about teaching swim strokes.
Learning Water Safety
Swimming with your children is the perfect time to instill essential water safety skills. Use this opportunity together to reinforce survival safety skills. This includes practicing floating, treading water, breath control, and swimming strokes.
Burning Energy
An active afternoon in the pool is the perfect way to tire out energetic kids and grown-ups! Challenge each other to races, endurance activities, or pool games like Marco Polo.
Light swimming can burn 170–260 calories per hour, depending on how vigorously and how long you play in the water.
Even if you aren’t swimming strokes for a full hour, moderate swim play keeps your muscles in motion while going easy on your joints.
Pool activities are a great way to ensure everyone gets a full, well-deserved night of sleep!
Modeling Physical Fitness
Parents are children’s best role models. The most effective way to encourage your child to have a healthy lifestyle, including physical fitness, is through modeling an active lifestyle.
Research has shown that parents swimming frequently directly correlates to how often their children swim. The more regularly parents encourage swimming and make it a part of their lifestyle, the more likely children are to embrace swimming.
Offering Relaxation for Parents
While children are busy playing, parents can enjoy relaxing in the warm water—a welcome break from busy schedules. Float peacefully while you watch your little minnows gain confidence!
Family swim time is an opportunity for parents to hit pause on daily demands and be fully present with their children, away from distractions.
The pool allows parents to recharge and to soak up the fun as well.
WeAquatics Encourages Family Time in the Pool
WeAquatics helps your children gain the skills and confidence they need to develop fundamental swimming and water safety skills. Through family swim time, parents can create fond memories and instill a lifelong love of swimming in their children.
Schedule time a few evenings or weekends each month just for family swim time. The memories, bonding, and vital water safety skills will benefit your family for generations.
Take the next step. Enroll your child in Learn-To-Swim Lessons. Designed for anyone four years and up, these private one-on-one swim classes help develop students’ strengths and improve their weaknesses.
