Dive jump
The child jumps standing from the edge of the pool into water about chest depth. When immersed, the entire head is submerged under water.
This exercise primarily trains the core element of getting used to water.
Prerequisite exercises:
Please read the Safety notes before you start.
Preparatory exercises
Sitting from the edge of the pool
The child is sitting on the edge of the pool and you are standing about one and a half meters in front of it with outstretched arms. The child then drops into the water with you. Grasp the child with both arms as soon as it is in the water. We do not recommend catching the child directly, as the momentum could cause injuries.
This exercise is very similar to the core exercise but requires less courage. Make sure that the distance is large enough.
Test of courage over mat
Take a swim mat and place it on the edge of the pool. Hold the mat firmly with at least one hand. The child should try to walk across the mat in various ways. At the beginning, shy children will only slowly scan the mat on all fours. If you repeat it several times, however, you will become more and more courageous. In a later phase, the children can also walk across the mat, run, etc. But then make sure that there are no other children or hard objects around the mat.
This exercise is used to relieve children of the fear of water. The exercise can be perfectly adapted to the children's level of precaution. Very careful children can slowly cross the mat on all fours and the brave can do more.
It's better for two
If your child doesn't want to jump into the water despite doing the exercises above, it may be helpful if you go swimming with other children of the same age. This can also be a slightly older sibling or a friend of the child. If the other children dare to jump into the water, this can trigger a group dynamic and suddenly your child dares too.
However, it is important that the majority of the children present dare to take the plunge. If several children do not jump, this can increase anxiety.