How to Teach a Child to Snorkel

Snorkeling can be a fun adventure for adults and children. Anyone that is comfortable swimming can master snorkeling in the ocean, this includes children. Teaching a child to snorkel will take time, practice and patience. Children pick up things they like quickly and when they can snorkel they will be able to explore the ocean bottoms and learn to love investigating the ever changing the world under water.

Instructions

1. Buy the child his or her own mask, fins and snorkel. The snorkel should be self-draining. The mask needs to be tight fitting and not leak. The best place to go is a scuba dive shop and they can try and test different models. It may be a bit pricier but worth the money for the right fit.

2. Put the mask on the child before getting into any water, so they get used to having their nose covered. You can then add the snorkel and they can practice breathing through it with the mask on. This relieves some of the anxiety they may feel once they get into the water.

3. Swim with the fins in the bath tub or shallow end of the pool with or without the mask and snorkel. Children love to do this anyway, and it is a great way to get them used to the feel of the equipment in a safe environment.

4. Practice in a swimming pool. The safety of being able to put your feet down and being able to practice before in the ocean will make for a smoother more enjoyable snorkeling trip.

5. Teach the child how to clear the mask of water while in the water. Tip the mask up from the bottom while raising your head a bit back drain the water out of the mask. When they can do this is the shallow end, have them try while they are treading water.

6. Show how to blow excess water out of their snorkel, by blowing really hard. Self draining snorkels still can get a few drops of excess water, so it is helpful to know how to do this.

7. Use the fins, mask and snorkel in the pool all together and practice, practice, practice. The more comfortable the child is with the equipment the better they will take to the ocean.

8. Teach the child to tread water in the pool with the fins. The legs have a different motion while they have fins on, and they will need to be able to tread for blocks of time while they are out in the ocean.

Tips & Warnings

• Tie a rope to a floating ring so that when in the ocean you can tell where the child is at all times.

• Add defogging drops to all masks before entering the water. They help a great deal, especially for new snorkelers.