Children’s safety comes as a main priority for parents. Therefore, every parent or caregiver should ensure that their kids are safe, either in the bathtub, in swimming pools and open water environments. It is a huge benefit to introduce your children to the water and teach them water safety skills from an early age. We recommend the following measures for water safety for under 4’s, and to put them into place to ensure safety.
Understanding the General Safety Skills
Both parents and swimmers should always be careful whilst in the water, and around it. Always follow general water safety messages such as swim between the flags, always supervise children around water and never swim alone.
Always follow the Kids Alive Do the 5 messages:
- Fence the pool
- Shut the gate.
- Teach your kids to swim
- Supervise, watch your mate
- Learn how to resuscitate!
Having a Basic Knowledge of Swimming Lessons
Kids may not see any danger when they are around swimming pools. Therefore, adequate education and information on the hazards associated with water will be an advantage. Doing so will trigger children to be on the lookout for danger and help them refrain from putting themselves in harm’s way. They should learn about the safe entry and exit points into the pool, and basic swimming and floating skills.
Water Education for Under 4's
Educating both children swimmers and parents on the importance of swimming, apart from it being a recreational activity, is a measure to ensure they take the swimming lessons seriously. They must understand the boundaries of swimming both at home and at the beach, or in rivers or a dam. Swim teachers play an educational role and strive to encourage safe attitudes and behaviors around water.
Water Safety Skills
Practising water safety skills in various environments will assist the child in becoming safer around the water. This will help them to cope with any uncertainties that may find them when in different water bodies. Swim teachers have the opportunity to expose children to different scenario’s they might encounter through activities that simulate the open water environment in the pool.
It is advisable to ensure that children are well equipped with all that pertains to swimming lessons. Doing so keeps your kids on the safer side in the event of any accidents. Therefore, great swimming programs will not only develop good technique in swimmers but also teach water safety skills and help to develop safe behaviors and attitudes around the water. Read more here.
Ensure you and your Swim School are Emergency Risk Ready, find out more information here.
Get more under 4 water safety tips and education from Kids Alive do the Five here
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