Celebrate National Swimming Pool Day with POTS and start the summer with a splash!

Are you looking for exciting ways to boost your child's sensorimotor skills? Dive into the summer season with these pool activities that stimulate sensory integration, improve coordination, and enhance motor skills while providing a refreshing and exhilarating experience. With the water's resistance, your child will develop a strong core, better balance, and increased stability.

1. Water Ballet

Encourage your child to create their own rhythmic swimming routines and follow yours to enhance body awareness, coordination, and motor planning. Moving to music or a beat promotes coordination!

2. Dashing Dolphin Relay

Form teams and have each child hold onto a kick-board. Quickly kick to the other end of the pool, and tag a teammate to continue the relay to strengthen the core and legs and improve endurance.

3. Aquatic Simon Says

Play a modified version of the classic Simon Says game in the pool. Give commands for the kids to perform different movements in the water, such as splashing, kicking, paddling, or floating in various positions to promote listening skills, following directions, and motor planning.

4. Float and Balance

Provide children with pool noodles or foam floats and challenge them to find creative ways to balance and stay afloat using their hands, feet or a combination of both. They can try standing, kneeling, or even attempting yoga poses on pool noodles and other floating devices to enhance core stability, body awareness, and balance.

5. Animal Race

To help acclimate your not-yet swimmers to deeper water, teach safety, and build endurance, ask kids to grab onto the side of the pool with their hands and feet and "monkey walk" around the pool. Combine it with a command to "take a side" (grab onto the side of the pool closest to them), and the monkey walks to the shallowest part of the pool.

If you're looking to improve your child's sensorimotor skills in the water, consider expert help! POTS Aquatic Therapy and Adaptive Swim Lessons 2023 are now open for registration.