Swimming lessons are fun to take and to teach. The activity should be learned for safety and fitness. Drowning is the second-highest cause of unintentional deaths in children under the age of 14. Learning to swim can help prevent accidents.
Make it Fun
For people to get the most out of swimming lessons, they need to enjoy themselves. Make the lesson fun by having children blow bubbles with their mouths to practice not taking in water while underwater. Also, have children practice kicking by holding onto a wall in the pool and seeing how much splash they can create. Or have swimmers pretend they're kicking soccer balls while floating on their stomachs or backs. To work on the underwater pull, have swimmers do the "dog paddle" while barking like a dog. For another fun activity, have swimmers work on the freestyle arm stroke while holding tennis balls.
Keep it Safe
It's vitally important that lessons are safe. People who are nervous or who panic are likely to develop a fear of the water. Participants should practice in water that isn't over their heads until they're capable of either treading water or swimming for an extended period. It's best for people to learn to swim in a pool so the depth of the water is established, unlike a lake where water depth can be inconsistent.
Size Matters
To make sure swimming lessons are both fun and safe, class sizes should be relatively small--essential for swimmers who are just learning. The instructor should be able to watch all of the participants during the entire session, and to interact with each swimmer. The more-advanced swimmers can handle a larger class but beginning swimmers should be in a class with three or four participants.
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