Christmas themed games and activities to use in swimming lessons
The Learn to Swim team have created some fun games and activities that can be used in the build-up to Christmas, giving your swimming lessons a festive feel.
These games are designed to make learning to swim even more enjoyable through the festive period for learners across Stages 1-7, bringing joy and skill-building to your lessons.
Swim England's 12 Days of Christmas games:
1. Santa and his Reindeer (Stages 4-7): Pair up learners as Santa and reindeer, creating a festive float relay. The goal is to cross the pool first, collecting presents (smaller floats) along the way.
2. Santa’s Chimney (Stages 1-3): Set to the tune of "When Santa Got Stuck up the Chimney," learners make a circle in the water, engaging in activities like blowing bubbles and ducking under the water. The game ends with a group jump and a festive "ACHOO!"
3. Home Alone (Stages 3-7): Construct an obstacle course relevant to the learners' age using noodles, floats, tunnels, and toys.
4. Three Wise Men (Stages 3-7): Weave water safety messages into a Nativity-themed story featuring the Three Wise Men. Skills include safe entry, HELP positions, survival strokes, and learning emergency numbers.
5. Santa’s Lost Presents (Stages 1-7): Locate and collect presents under and above the water, returning them to a sleigh represented by a larger float.
6. The Elves Workshop (Stages 1-7): Elves collect scattered 'presents' around the pool, returning them to Santa's Workshop upon hearing the call.
7. Christmas Noodle Tree (Stages 1-7): Use noodles as tree branches, and have learners collect sinkers and floating objects to decorate the tree.
8. Festive Floats (Stages 1-7): Perform a sequence of festive shapes, including a Christmas tree, snowflake, snowman, and a Christmas pudding.
9. Golden Sinkers (Stages 1-7): Learners collect sinkers from varying depths of the pool, enhancing their swimming abilities.
10. Santa’s Workshop (Stages 1-7): Imagining themselves as Santa's elves, learners collect and build presents around the pool.
11. Reindeer Races (Stages 3-7): Teams of four use noodles to form a chain and engage in relay races, adapting distance and float usage based on abilities.
12. Christmas Dinner (Stages 3-5): Use a large float as the table and various equipment as cutlery to create a festive dinner setup.