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F in the po
As well as being fun, swimming is a great way to keep fit, stay healthy and
make friends. Here are some suggestions for fun in the pool, but remember
if you’re under 12 years old, you must be able to swim to undertake
these activities. You should always play in the pool under the
supervision of an adult.
Dive for coins
1.Toss the coins around an area of the pool
appropriate for your child’s swimming skills
(larger/deeper area for better swimmers as
they have to hold their breath for longer).
2. Call out 1-2-3 GO!
3.The children dive in and find the coins as fast
as possible.
4.You can time the effort or challenge them
to pick up at least X coins before taking a
breath.
5.Great for building lung capacity!
6.If there are several children, you can make
the game all about collecting the most coins
before your friends do.
7. Whoever collects the most coins wins.
Sharks and minnows
1.Generally sharks and minnows is played in
the deep end of a large pool.
2.The game starts out with one person
selected as the shark and the rest as the
minnows.
3.The shark starts in the water on one side of
the pool and the minnows usually start on
the deck of the other side (if they are playing
in water deep enough to dive into).
4.The game starts by the shark calling out
“Sharks and Minnows, one two three, fishies,
fishies swim to me!” at which point the
minnows may begin to dive in to swim to the
other wall.
5.If the shark manages to tag a minnow
before he touches the wall, then that minnow
Simon Says
becomes a shark in the next round.
1.All the participants get into the pool and
6.After all the minnows have either reached
spread out.
the wall or been tagged the shark(s) swim to
2.The instructor – or supervising adult – acts
the other wall and the cycle starts again.
as ‘Safety Simon’. ‘Safety Simon’ calls out an 7.If some of the minnows refuse to enter the
action (ie, a swimming or water safety skill).
pool, the shark may swim to the other wall
3.For example “Safety Simon says float on
and tag it, whoever was still out of the pool
your back”. Participants then do what ‘Safety
when the shark tags the wall becomes a
Simon Says’. When ‘Safety Simon’ gives the
shark.
instruction to carry out an action without
8.The game is played until all of the minnows
saying “Safety Simon Says” first (for example
have been tagged, then the first person
“Float on your back”) then whoever does it is
tagged becomes the shark who starts the
‘out’ and has to leave the water.
next round.
4.The last person standing in the water is the
winner.