A parent wrote to me with this question.
"Should I teach my child to blow bubbles or hold their breath first? So many different opinions out there." - Perplexed Parent
I love this question, and the answer is still up for debate. I and many swim instructors, not all, would agree that you should teach your child to hold their breath first.
When I was training to become a swim instructor through the American Red Cross program, I learned to encourage bubble blowing, even with babies.
After a lot more of my own research and a great deal more experience under my belt, I became a breath-holding believer.
First of all, when you teach a baby to hold their breath, this is easily done by pouring water over their head. It causes them to hold their breath automatically. I can't say the same for bubble blowing.
Secondly, when teaching a beginner, child, or adult, it's much easier for them to get comfortable putting their face in the water while holding their breath, rather than blowing bubbles. The reason for this is because they have only one thing to do. Hold their breath. It's like with any new skill; you need to break it down into steps, preferably one at a time, i.e., hold your breath.
And finally, an inexperienced swimmer who is still trying to master breath control will likely inhale water when attempting bubble blowing.
It's especially true with children. I've seen it happen. They'll blow bubbles, then, of course, run out of air, and their first instinct is to inhale before they lift their face out of the water.
As previously mentioned, breath-holding is step number one toward mastering breath control. The steps following don't include bubble blowing for awhile. Once my students are comfortable with many different skills in the shallow end of the pool, I'll introduce bubble blowing or let it evolve naturally on its own.
I hope you found this informative and helpful. Let me know if you have any other questions. I'm happy to answer all of them.
