Description
Children can be often overwhelmed by the noise, their fear of water, new faces and the sheer size of the space, this is on top of any anxiety the child may already feel. Due to these emotions children can struggle to listen, be relaxed and find it hard to be able to perform any of the given activities/tasks.
Also promote the breaking of the parent/child bond, encouraging independence from a parent and for the swimmer to make friends outside the family unit through games and activities in their lesson.
Additional needs
When in an aquatic environment children can often be overwhelmed by the noise and the sheer size of the space, this is on top of any fear the child may already feel in an alien environment.
Children with additional needs can struggle to listen, and thus reluctant to join in confidently with the activities planned because of the anxiety they feel.
This award is designed for children who can struggle with the environment of the pool, the new experiences and overcome this stress to begin to interact with others through games and activities in the swimming pool. Children with learning difficulties, interaction and communication is a key skill to develop and this is exactly what this award promotes and supports.
Lesson ideas
Lots of team games can be created to involve everyone, especially new swimmers to the class or stage. Not everyone will enjoy every aspect of swimming, so as a teacher make sure that different aspects of swimming are rotated.
Divide your class into groups using fun group names to create an identity eg, Pirates and First mate, Dolphins and Penguins, Wizards and Unicorns etc. You can then play race games, jumping games, tag games, ball games and create goals either end of a suitable area, collecting games or obstacle games.
Team building games s include everyone being in a circle and 1/2 different coloured balls/2 teams, the swimmer has to name a person on their team and throw the ball to them, catch and repeat. The idea is to not let the ball touch the water. Great way to introduce new swimmers and to learn swimmers names.
Introduce any new swimmers to the class and may be assign a swim buddy to show them the ropes in class and someone for them to talk to. It is important that any new swimmer feels at easy especially in their first few lessons.
The easiest way to get someone to settle and join in, is to make it fun
Songs
Team races using floats and or woggles to hold on too
