Puddle Ducks
Making a splash with baby swimming
Coming from the watery world of the womb, babies have a natural affinity with water and love the freedom, massage and gentle exercise that swimming offers. Recent years have seen a boom in the popularity of baby and child swimming classes, the benefits of which are immense for both parent and child:
- Lots of eye contact and plenty of skin-to-skin contact; a wonderful way to bond
- Feel relaxed and confident in the water together, even for parents who can’t swim
- Makes swimming a fun, social activity
- It nurtures life-saving instincts
But most importantly of all, swimming from a young age instills a love of water – something that baby and child swimming specialist, Puddle Ducks, is passionate about.
Learning the natural way
Classes follow a clear and progressive structure, taught in a relaxed atmosphere by highly-trained teachers who proactively recognise the needs of each child. Good swimming schools will promote natural buoyancy rather than use armbands, with a parent being in the pool until that incredible day when the child is able to swim unaided, which is typically between two and five years of age.
Gentle submersion usually forms part of lessons, which is not only natural for young babies but it also gives the confidence and skills needed for jumping in and learning to swim. Puddle Ducks teaches verbal and non-verbal signals with the children, which means that only when they are ready and happy will they be encouraged to swim under water.
Learning the fun way
The best baby swimming classes consist of carefully designed but simple activities and are packed full of songs and games. Puddle Ducks classes incorporate rhyme, music and movement based on extensive child development research, which the children become familiar with over the term.
This stimulates learningthrough repetition and recognition, and because the classes revolve around bonding and play, the children don’t even realise they’re learning to swim and acquiring skills that could one day save their life.
Parents’ experiences
“We were on holiday and Alice was playing by the pool. Within a split second of looking away she fell in,” says Rachel Davidson. “As we ran towards her she was already turning herself around and reaching up to hold onto the poolside, where we were able to pull her to safety. We believe that her actions, which seem to have become instinctive to her, saved her from a more serious situation and it was clear they were the actions she learns at Puddle Ducks”.
Franchisee Quotes
But for most, it is simply the enjoyment of time in the water with their youngsters that is the greatest benefit, as Puddle Ducks customer, Donna Butler, from South Lancashire shares, “It was the first time my husband had seen our daughter swimming. He couldn’t believe how much more confident she was and was impressed she could get in the water safely on her own and the way she ‘monkey walked’ along the side.”
“Its an absolute joy to be part of Puddle Ducks, the programme is amazing and I never tire of seeing the babies and children progress, the little ones continue to amaze me every single day, Its without doubt the most rewarding, fun Job I’ve ever had!”
“The best thing about being my own boss and running a Puddle Ducks franchise is the flexibility that it gives me. I have a challenging and rewarding job that I can manage around my young family making sure that I have a great balance between work and family life.”
“I chose the Puddle Ducks franchise as I strongly believe that all children should be happy, confident and safe in the water. I have always been a swimmer and I could not imagine a life where I would be afraid to go in the water. I get a real pleasure from swimming and many other water sports (I am also a professional scuba diver) and I think that every child should be given the chance to enjoy water like I do – not to mention the absolutely essential life skills developed when learning to swim. I hope that by offering the Puddle Ducks programme in Kent I will be able to help the children around here become happy and more confident in the water, as well as providing a lovely bonding time for child and parent.”
“Being a franchisee allows you to have a challenging and rewarding career that fits in perfectly around the family, its fab to be able to do the school run and spend time with my own kids but I’m still putting all my qualifications and experience to good use which is not always easy to find on a part time basis, I feel very lucky to be part of Puddle Ducks”
Suzanne, Puddle Ducks Greater Manchester says, “There’s something really special about helping parents understand how they can help their children to learn to swim and be safe in and around water. It’s wonderful to see both parents and little ones grow in confidence as the term progresses. I’m really proud to be part of Puddle Ducks; the nationwide network is full of professional, supportive people and the technical team that puts together our excellent teaching programme is second to none.”
Taking the plunge
There are lots of great swimming companies available to parents, with classes available for babies from just a few weeks old all the way to eight years old. Puddle Ducks offers free taster classes so come along and discover if they are the classes for you.
For further information on Puddle Ducks classes visit www.puddleducks.com