I thought I would give you a little peek into what I've been working on. I haven't finished the video tutorial yet, so I have just included the first draft of the lesson on teaching paddling from my latest online course entitled Teach Children to Swim 2 to 2 1/2 Years. Just a few shorts weeks until it's released.
So here's a little freebie for you. I hope you find it informative.
How to Teach Paddling
Paddling, like kicking, is a propulsive skill, and just like kicking, it is also taught through manipulation, imitation, and practice.
However, kicking is particularly relevant to a child's ability to propel themselves through the water effectively. For this reason, paddling is only encouraged with kicking, when the child's kick is already propulsive and is not negatively affected when the paddling action is added.
The first time you ask a child to kick and paddle together, you'll see how difficult it is for them to manage the cross-patterning movements.
It takes a considerable amount of coordination since the kicking requires fast, little movements, while the paddling demands a long and slow arm action.
If you see that the child's kick suffers when they are also paddling, incorporate more kicking only practice into your lessons to achieve a more intuitive kick.
And then, once kicking becomes more automatic, it won't affect the child's forward propulsion when also paddling.
Manipulation
Help your child paddle by having them sit on your knee. You can do this by balancing on one leg in waist or chest-deep water or sit on the steps or a shallow ledge with your child in your lap, facing out.
To help them paddle:
- Place your thumbs under your child's wrists and your fingers on the back of their hands.
- Manipulate the paddle by pulling one hand quickly through the water and then the other, applying water pressure to the hands' palms.
- Say, "paddle, paddle, paddle..." as you manipulate the paddling arm action for about ten paddles.
- Now, encourage the child to put their face in the water so that they can watch underwater as you paddle their arms about ten times.
- Repeat steps 1 through 4, five, or six times.
Imitation
You're going to show the child how to paddle through demonstrations. Start with the child sitting on the steps or shallow ledge facing you.
How to do it:
- Show the child how to paddle by reaching out in front of you as far as you can with one hand and then pull back and reach out with the other hand. Continue this alternating arm action.
- Say, "paddle, paddle, paddle..." as you demonstrate the paddling action.
- Encourage the child to copy you.
- Now have them put their face in the water, push off from the steps toward you.
- You move backward through the water as you paddle under the water in front of the child and encourage them to copy your paddling action by saying, "paddle, paddle, paddle..."
- Remain close to the child and keep the distance short at first so that they'll want to repeat this exercise over and over again.
Alligator
Alligator is one of the most fun ways to practice paddling, and it places the child in the perfect horizontal swimming position. Also, it's best to use toys with this activity.
How to do it:
- Have the child lie down on their tummy on the shallow steps or ledge.
- Instruct them to float their alligator tail behind them.
- Tell them to pull themselves along with just their arms.
- Encourage long, slow arms.
- Hold a toy just out of their reach to promote an extra-long reach.
