Summer time is synonymous with splashing around in outdoor pools, lakes, streams and more – and swimming and water play are excellent ways to entertain your young child and keep him or her active and engaged.
It’s crucial to keep your preschooler safe around water, though, and here are important tips.
Constant supervision
Kids Health emphasizes the need for constant supervision – and that point can’t be stressed enough. The article points out that this warning goes for any type of standing water, including a “bathtub, a wading pool, an ornamental fish pond . . . the sink, the toilet bowl, fountains, buckets, inflatable pools, or small bodies of standing water around your home, such as ditches filled with rainwater.”
This is not intended to scare you, only to reinforce the keen need for supervision of young children around water – even those who know how to swim. If you aren’t a good swimmer yet yourself, now might be a good time to take lessons and practice your skills. Kids Health also discusses the importance of well-fitting Coast Guard-approved life vests, saying that, “For kids younger than 5 years old, choose a vest with a strap between the legs and head support — the collar will keep the child's head up and face out of the water. Inflatable vests and arm devices such as water wings are not effective protection against drowning.”
Explain water safety age appropriately
It’s also helpful to explain the importance of water safety to your preschoolers, with First-School providing a water safety sheet that you can review with your child. Even if your child can’t read yet, this sheet provides an overview for you to explain water safety rules – and perhaps your child could draw pictures next to the rules that reinforce their meaning.
A site that does a good job of explaining water safety to young children in a way that they can understand is Danger Rangers. Tips include tying up long hair before getting into the water and to always walk – not run – around a pool.
If your child enjoys music – and most do – Danger Rangers has this catchy music video that lays out water safety rules, along with a coloring sheet to reinforce the information. This video gives a quick overview of water safety rules – and here is yet another song that imparts key advice.
Or, if your child learns well through game playing, take a look at the Adventures of Splish and Splash as presented by Pool Safely and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Here, you’ll find three child-friendly interactive games that feature:
- Splish: a “smart, sensible, adult-like character who knows about pool and spa safety”
- Splash: an “impulsive childlike character who learns about safety through choices and consequences”
Overall, the games reinforce two crucial messages:
- The importance of children receiving the permission of parents and/or caregivers before beginning water play
- The importance of safe behavior around water, which includes obeying the rules and what parents and/or caregivers instruct
The site also contains more water-safety information and resources for parents.
It’s also crucial to choose the right summer program for your child and we’d love to talk to you about your needs.
