Going underwater is one of the essential swim skills. It is the foundation of all other activities; they all build off of a learner’s ability to go under.
I recommend a loving, caring, trusting environment for learning to go underwater.
Swimming Ideas classifies “Level 1” as the core place for learners ages 3+ to master “going underwater.”
In this post we’re going to review the best challenges and games for swimming lessons to encourage learners to go underwater with joy.
Buckethead / Bucket-shoulder
Rules: – You must say “Bucket-head,” or “bucket-shoulder.”
Start with the swimmer pouring the water on the parent or instructor’s head. “I want a “bucket-shoulder.”
Ask, “Do you want a bucket-head” or a “bucket-shoulder?”
Whatever they say, follow through.
Shoulder= pour water over their shoulders from the bucket shouting “BUCKET-SHOULDER” while laughing.
Head= pour water over your head by yelling “BUCKETHEAD!” and laughing a lot!
Bubbles and Bobs
Blow bubbles for five seconds.
Bob the same number of times as you are old up to 10 times.
Kiss the water
Demonstrate first. Kiss the water with an audible smack.
Encourage your swimmers to kiss the surface of the water and progressively get more and more of their lips underwater.
Younger swimmers are familiar with a “kiss” and by doing this action it removes anxiety with going underwater and the discomfort it sometimes brings.
Bake a Cake
One of the best dynamic games filled with opportunities to go underwater.
Variants include, “make a pizza,” “make a taco,” “bake muffins (with rings)”
-Get a hoola hoop, or a circular object and make that your “cake”
-Have swimmers circle around the hoola hoop and hold the sides.
-Take turns asking each swimmer what they would like in their cake. Exp: “Susie, what would you like in your cake?” “CHOCOLATE!” “Ok, lets put some chocolate in the cake!”
Take turns splashing water into the hoola hoop and repeat “Put some chocolate into our cake!”
-After each swimmer has put their own ingredient into the cake, have each swimmer grab the edge of the hoola hoop and push it down to their feet to “put the cake in the oven.” Encourage each swimmer to put their nose, mouth or face in the water while doing so.
-Do another short activity while the cake “bakes.”
-Have a swimmer, or swimmers check the cake by putting their face, lips, or nose in the water. Ask, “Is the cake done? Is it ready to eat?”
-Have swimmers reach down to the sunken hoola hoop to their shoulders, or noses if they can, and slowly, heavily, lift the “cake” to the surface.
-Have swimmers blow bubbles on the cake (inside the hoola hoop) to cool it off so you can eat it.
-Eat the cake by either smashing faces into the water inside the cake (voluntarily!), or getting a bucket and dumping onto their faces or heads. Make sure everyone participates! either dump water on their shoulders, on the back of their head, or on their face. If scooping water, make sure they do something to be a part of the fantasy.
-Be enthusiastic, and exclaim how delicious it is!
Big Bad Wolf
While floating on a noodle or life jacket, use your breath to blow a ping pong ball from one bench to the other.
Setup: Spread out the foam noodles and Ping-Pong balls, ensuring each participant has one of each.
Positioning: Swimmers lay on their stomachs or backs, supported by the foam noodle.
Objective: Using only their breath, participants must blow the Ping-Pong ball from one end of the pool to a designated spot.
Rules:
- No hands or feet allowed to move the ball—just the power of their breath.
- The first to reach the destination wins!
Ring around the Rosie
“Ring around the rosie, pockets full of poesy,
ashes, ashes, we all fall down!”
Make sure instructor is low in the water, not standing.
At “Fall down” all go underwater.
Treasure Hunt
Pile as many floating toys as you can on a kickboard.
Sail it out to sea together. Have a storm strike. Waves, splashing. Spread the toys around the pool.
Do supported front glides to collect toys and return to the kick board (boat).
Mushroom Man Game
Get to the mushroom without any falling water touching you.
Must go underwater to get to the mushroom man and get a reward.
Reward is a chance to dance around the mushroom while being rained on.
London Bridges Falling Down
Push the YELLOW floating mats against the wall so that it creates a bridge.
With every verse lower it slowly.
Instructor sings the song.
Parents and swimmers go through either doing a front glide or a back glide. Their choice, or instructors.
London Bridge is falling down
Falling down, falling down
London Bridge is falling down
My fair ladyBuild it up with iron bars
Iron bars, iron bars
Build it up with iron bars
My fair ladyIron bars will bend and break
Bend and break, bend and break
Iron bars will bend and break
My fair ladyBuild it up with gold and silver
Gold and silver, gold and silver
Build it up with gold and silver
My fair ladyLondon Bridge is falling down
Falling down, falling down
London Bridge is falling down
M-y f-a-i-r l-a-d-y
Pick up Rings
Give swimmer 6 rings and have them get them with:
– Foot
– Hand
– Shoulder underwater
– Lips in the water.
– With a foot, but both hands above water.
Splash and Sing
The instructor or parent will demonstrate how to splash the water with their hands and sing a song. Then they will show how to put their face in the water and blow bubbles while humming the same song. They will encourage the children to copy them and praise them for their efforts. The instructor or parent can also ask the children to guess what song they are humming when their face is in the water.
Sing any song that the child knows like “Twinkle Twinkle” and start above water. Slowly go under and see if they know the song.
Challenge: Hurdles and Limbos
Setup: The class takes place in shallow water, about chest-deep for the swimmers. The instructor holds an object (bucket, pole, or arm) underwater.
Starting Easy: The instructor holds the object very low, allowing swimmers to easily walk or jump over it.
Increasing Difficulty: After each successful pass, the instructor raises the object slightly, making it progressively harder to step over.
Switching to Limbo: Once the object is too high to step over, the instructor instructs swimmers to go under it. Swimmers take turns limboing under the object, which is gradually lowered to increase difficulty.
Repetition: The game continues with swimmers alternating between stepping over and limboing under the object until they can no longer do so without touching it.
Challenge: Singing in the Rain
Setup: Set up the activity in a splashpad or kiddie pool with multiple water features.
Instructions:
- Instruct swimmers to stand under each water feature—waterfall, spout, or spray—and sing a song for a few seconds.
- Ensure each swimmer visits at least three different water features to complete the challenge.
- For swimmers uncomfortable with water on their face, have them place their hand under the water feature and sing the word “Next” to simulate the experience.
- If no splashpad is available, use buckets or spouts to manually pour water for the swimmers. You can even use different color buckets.
Challenge: Secret Messages
To play the game, start by choosing two players: one to be the messenger and the other to be the guesser. Both players go underwater at the same time. The messenger says a goofy or silly word loudly underwater. When they come back up, the guesser has to say what word or message they think the messenger said. To make guessing easier, consider choosing a theme, like animals or fruits. The instructor can provide suggestions to the speaker each round, ensuring a different word for each participant, or let the swimmer choose.
Challenge: Car Wash
- Introduction: Start by explaining the game and demonstrating how to move through the “car wash” without assistance.
- Equipment: Use larger buckets or incorporate sprayground features like water mushrooms or gentle showers to simulate a more immersive car wash experience.
- Independence: Encourage children to move through the water independently, promoting self-confidence and reinforcing the skills they’ve learned.
- Buddy System: Pair up children so they can take turns pouring water over each other, fostering teamwork and social interaction.
- Challenges: Introduce gentle challenges, such as moving through the car wash with eyes closed or blowing bubbles while being splashed, to develop breath control and comfort with water on the face.
- Safety: Ensure all activities are supervised closely to maintain safety, especially when children are using larger buckets or near sprayground features.
- Positive Reinforcement: Provide plenty of encouragement and praise to build confidence and associate the water with positive experiences.
Challenge –
Lift one foot out of the water, including all five toes.
BONUS: Do it without holding on to anything.
SUPER BONUS: Do it with 5 toes out of the water and spinning around two times. Head can remain in or out of the water.
Challenge –
Spin in a circle with your whole head above water without touching the ground. Do it again 2x. Do it again without using your hands! and again with 10 toes above the water.
Challenge: Sit on the bottom
Sit on the bottom with legs crossed and hands on knees. Hold for 2 seconds.
BONUS: put your nose and belly on the bottom at the same time. Hold for 2 seconds.
Better swimming.
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