Aquatics

From the American Red Cross, Water Safety for Kids is a source of information all about the importance of water safety with activities and quizzes for kids, WHALE Tales video lessons, and “live” links to other helpful safety sites. WHALE Tales features eight water safety topics to help teach elementary-school aged children about water safety while they are at home and can be utilized for “dry-land” online and classroom training.

If your child is nervous about taking swimming lessons, as many children are, reading a book about swimming together may help. Many of the children or animals in these stories are not sure about taking swimming lessons or getting into the water. But they work through their fear and by the end of the story they are happily swimming. You should always read through a story first before you read it to your child to make sure that you will be sending a positive message. Choose a story that is going to help your child rather than scare him or her even more. 

Here are some ideas to get you started. We’ve listed the age range each book is geared towards. If you have a favorite swimming book we haven’t listed, please let us know!

• Saturday is Swimming Day by Hyewon Yum (4-6 yrs)
• Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall (4-8 yrs)
• Over and Under the Pond by Kate Messner (5-8 yrs)
• Josh the Otter by Blake Collingsworth
• Shark Lady by Jess Keating (4 yrs & Up)
• Manfish by Jennifer Berne (4-7 yrs)
• Leo Can Swim by Anna McQuinn (0-3 yrs)
• Learn to Swim with Lou by Kim Shults (2-9 yrs)
• Stewie the Duck Learns to Swim by Kimberly Leonard & Lawrence Shapiro (2-6 yrs)
• The Polar Bear Who Couldn’t, Wouldn’t Swim by Karen & Brian Cohn (4-7 yrs)
•  Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister (4-8 yrs)
• Albie the Lifeguard by Louise Borden (4-8 yrs)
• Froggy Learns to Swim by Jonathan London (0-3 yrs)
• Last One in is a Rotten Egg by Leonard Kessler (4-8 yrs)
• Sea Swan by Kathryn Lasky (6 yrs & Up)
• Swim with Me by Sue Peterson (2-4 yrs)
• Tuck in the Pool by Martha Weston (3-6 yrs)
• Joe’s Pool by Claire Henley (5-7 yrs)
• Let’s Jump In by Susan Hood (5-6 yrs)
• Maisy’s Pool by Lucy Cousins (2-5 yrs)
• Swim! By Eve Rice (4 yrs & Up)
• Swim Like a Fish by Ellen Schecter (5-6 yrs)
• Swimming is for Me by Lowell Dickmeyer (7-10 yrs)
• Time to Swim by Craig McKee and Margaret Holland (5-7 yrs)
• William and Boomer by Lindsay Barrett George (4 yrs & Up)
• Llama Llama Learns to Swim by Anna Dewdney (4-6 yrs)
• Maisy Learns to Swim by Lucy Cousins (2-5 yrs)
• 1,2,3 Jump by Lisl H. Detlefsen (3-6 yrs)
• Peppa Goes Swimming by Scholastic (3-5 yrs)
• My First Swim Class by Alyssa Satin Capucilli (3-5 yrs)
• Ruby Learns to Swim by Phillip Gwynne (3-5 yrs)
• Swim Time with Steve the Duck by Kim & Steve Leonard (0-3 yrs)
• Water Safety with Swimmy by Caroline Caron (2-8 yrs)
• Little Pig Learns to Swim by Margaret Nasin (5-6 yrs)
• Swim Boots Swim-Dora the Explorer by Random House (3-7 yrs)
• Making A Splash by Carol E Reley (5-12 yrs)
• Sergio Makes A Splash by Edel Rodriguez (5-6 yrs)
• The Deep End by Ursula Dubosarsky (5 yrs & Up)
• The Deep End by Rebecca Patterson (4-7 yrs)
• Rande’s First Swim:Water Safety & Swimming by Chase Miller (3-7 yrs)
• Learn to Swim:Teaching You to Teach Your Child to Swim by Benjamin Roberts