How to Teach a Child to Glide in the Water

Once a child can float facedown in the water, it's time for the child to learn to glide. Learning to glide is an essential early step in learning the crawl stroke or freestyle.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Swimsuits
• Swimsuits For Children
• Swimsuits

1. Hold the child under the armpits and pull him or her around the pool.

2. Have him blow bubbles in the water as you pull him around, to get his face in the water.

3. Hold onto the pool's wall by reaching your arms out straight behind you, with your hands grasping the top of the wall. Bend your knees and place your feet flat against the wall, and face away from it.

4. Move your arms in front of you and push off the wall, gliding facedown in the water.

5. Help your child to hold onto the wall while facing away from it.

6. Stand a few feet away from the child and have him or her push off and glide to you.

7. Stand further away, and repeat the previous two steps. Repeat until the push and glide are smooth and comfortable.

Tips & Warnings

• Once a child can glide, he or she can begin to incorporate a kick and, later, the arms. Get the child used to pushing off to reach you. As you get further and further away, the child's confidence will grow.
• Start gliding in the shallow end, but try it deeper as the child's swimming ability improves.
• Never leave a child unattended near a swimming pool.

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