If you live anywhere around water or have a pool in your backyard, you may already know that the month of May is National Water Safety Month. In conjunction with National Water Safety Month and the upcoming Memorial Day weekend, SwimWays has named Saturday, May 19, 2012 the first annual National Learn to Swim Day! The nationwide campaign is an effort to raise awareness about the importance of teaching children to swim, and provide resources to parents for teaching their kids the important skill.
To help us celebrate National Learn to Swim Day, SwimWays recently provided Rylie and Bryce with some great products to help them learn how to swim. The Swim Steps line by SwimWays is a line of products geared to help children build confidence in the pool. Since both of my kids were introduced to our pool at very young ages and have passed Step 1 - Water Introduction, they are now ready for Step 2 - Water Exploration. They were both given certificates to show that they are "ready to paddle and splash!"
Swim Step 2 gives your child freedom of motion to develop confidence, supporting them as they learn to balance and paddle, two important pre-swimming skills.
There are two products used in Swim Step 2 - Swim Vest and Swim Sweater. We received two of each of these products to help Rylie and Bryce master this step.
Rylie was super excited about the new swim products and tried them both on. She ultimately decided to wear the Swim Sweater for our first swim of the season in our pool.
Bryce reluctantly put his swim sweater on too, and we got ready to swim. Unfortunately, the smiles turned into frowns when we got into the water.
My kids love the pool, but were apprehensive about trying the Swim Sweaters on their own. I tried to explain to them that the Swim Sweater would keep their heads above the water so they could have fun swimming on their own. Bryce took my words to heart, and within minutes, he was swimming around all by himself!
It took Rylie a little bit longer to have faith in what I was saying, but after she saw Bryce swimming around, she decided to join in on the fun.
We all love the Swim Sweaters! The kids were able to paddle around the pool without assistance, but of course we stayed very close just in case. The Swim Sweaters allowed them freedom while they learned to keep their balance, and they did not flip over or go under the water at all. What I really like about the Swim Sweaters is since they are worn like a shirt, the kids cannot slip out of them like they can an ordinary swim ring.
Rylie ended up staying in the pool almost the whole day in her Swim Sweater, and even felt comfortable swimming with Chloe when she decided to join us in the water!
Later on in the weekend we were talking about taking a trip to see our friend's baby next weekend, and Rylie asked if she could take her Swim Sweater with her for when she gets to swim in Aunt Melissa's pool. I think she likes it!
We haven't gotten a chance to try the Swim Vest yet, but there will be plenty of weekends spent in the pool, so stay tuned for my thoughts on those.
Are you ready for National Learn to Swim Day? I encourage you to sign your children up for swimming lessons, or take a trip to your local YMCA pool and speak with a swim instructor about water safety. We will be celebrating by attempting to master Step 2 in the SwimWays Swim Steps Program!
Be sure to fan SwimWays on Facebook and follow SwimWays on Twitter for updates throughout the summer!
Disclosure: All opinions are my own. I have been selected as a SwimWays Ambassador for the 2012 summer season, and will be receiving products at no cost during the program.
6 comments:
My kids all took lessons but I honestly dropped the ball with the last two and didnt make them take lessons up past the early middle school sessions. We have always said in our family that learning to swim is at least AS important if not way MORE important than learning how to ride a bike, drive a car, or even some of the things they learn in school. It is a life skill that can literally SAVE your life. I lost a good friend who was actually out of high school who had never learned how to swim. He drowned because of it. So sad. Now we have grandkids and so happy that the parents are either having their kids in lessons already or will in the future (some are just infants). It's NEVER too late to learn how to swim...my mom was over 40 and took lessons with a bunch of kids. I was so proud of her for conquering her fears of water and learning how to swim!
This is a great idea. I just signed Christopher up for swim lessons at Saf-T-Swim. He had such a fear of the water. And now, after only 6 lessons, he is going under all by himself. He better be for the price I am paying...lol!
this really is a great idea. I don't like the water, but I'm very glad I know how to tread water.
oh my, what cuties. I really dont swim well and what i do know i learned as an adult. My kids , however, have been swimming since they were young. They all learned right around 2 yrs old and my youngest is a fish. They are all wonderful swimmers while i cant even make it across the pool haha
thanks for sharing i love these, ive been shopping around since we'll be doing tons of swimming this summer
Gosh your pool looks beautiful! I want one just like yours..lol
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