Best Underwater Swimming Lesson Games

It can be scary for kids to start going underwater. Games can make it fun instead of frightening. Here are some great underwater infant swimming lesson games to help children get comfortable with being underwater.

Fetch the Ring

Drop rings at the bottom of the pool and have students go underwater to pick them up. Demonstrate by going completely underwater yourself to pick up the ring, and encourage students to do the same. If a child will not go underwater, instead encourage him or her to put lips and nose into the water while picking up the ring. If that is still too scary, encourage the child to put shoulders and chin in the water while picking up the ring with his or her foot.

Superman through the hula hoop

Take a hula hoop and hold it so that it is resting on the pool floor or a few inches above, and the top is several inches above the water. Start by holding it high enough that the kids can hop through without getting their heads wet. Gradually lower it so that kids have to go underwater more and more to go through the hoop. The eventual goal is for kids to glide through the hula hoop, Superman style.

Look at the picture underwater

Take a laminated picture and hold it underwater, on the wall of the pool. Have kids wear goggles. In turns, ask children a question about the picture and have them go underwater, look at the picture, and come up and answer you. You can ask them to count items in the picture or tell you what color something in the picture is. Focusing on the picture helps distract them from being afraid of going underwater.

Baking a cake

This is a fun, imaginative game to get kids comfortable with being underwater. Hold a hula hoop on the surface of the water and have all kids hold onto it. The hula hoop is going to be the “cake.” Ask them what they want in their cake, and to “put it in.” Have students splash water into the “cake,” saying, “I want strawberries in my cake,” “I want chocolate in my cake,” etc.

Then have the kids sink the “cake” to the bottom of the pool and stand on it while it “bakes.” They can do another activity at this time. Periodically ask for volunteers to “check” whether the “cake” is done – they do this by putting their heads underwater and looking. After a while, bring the “cake” back up from the floor of the pool. Now everyone gets to “eat it!” They do that by sticking their face underwater inside the hula hoop. If any kids are uncomfortable putting their faces underwater, you can use a bucket to pour some water on their face, on the backs of their heads, or on their shoulders.