When you think of enrolling your child in swimming lessons, what comes to mind? Do you think about long summer days watching your child splash happily in the pool or cheering them on as they swim in their first race? Maybe you think about spending summers at the lake or beach and watching your child swim with confidence and ease.
What you might not think about, however, is just how important it is to keep your child enrolled in swimming lessons throughout the winter. Though the short, cold days may seem like an unlikely time of year for swimming lessons, there are numerous advantages to wintertime swimming lessons.
1. It Helps With Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a form of depression that appears at the same time each year. For children, winter can be a particularly difficult time as daylight hours become shorter, normal summer-fun routines get cut back, and cold weather prevents them from enjoying time outdoors. All of these can lead children to feel symptoms of depression or unexplained fatigue. However, by keeping your child enrolled in swimming lessons throughout the winter months, they can engage in regular exercise that’s been proven to help children get better sleep, keep energy levels and appetites up, and provide other relief to these symptoms.
2. They Create More Opportunities for Socialization
In the winter, your child doesn’t have as many opportunities to play with friends or meet new acquaintances at places like parks, playgrounds, or picnics. However, with weekly swim lessons, your child can have a much-needed break from the confinement of the indoors while also having the chance to socialize with friends both new and old. Not only does this help thwart the loneliness that can often accompany long winter months, but it keeps you child on a reliable schedule that they can look forward to throughout the week.
3. They Can Stay Healthy
Moderate exercise is proven to help boost the immune system and keep your child healthy during a time when sickness tends to run rampant. And while it’s best not to put additional stress on your child’s immune system if they are fighting an illness, keeping them enrolled in swimming lessons when they are healthy will help them build a strong immune system. Additionally, swimming helps your child stay healthy in the following ways:
- It improves cardiovascular health by keeping blood pressure and cholesterol levels (for all ages!) low.
- It’s one of the most effective exercises for kids to strengthen every muscle in their body.
- It helps your child burn off the calories in fat that builds up and clogs arteries.
- It helps prevent diabetes and childhood obesity.
4. Winter Swim Lessons Facilitate Year Round Safety
Perhaps one of the most important reasons to keep your child enrolled in swimming lessons throughout the winter is to ensure their safety and security around water. Unfortunately, the statistics on child drownings are very grim: an average of 350 children under the age of five drown in pools each year – a majority of which occur in June, July, and August. And while having a few months of swimming lessons here and there will no doubt help to give your child safe exposure to water, keeping them enrolled throughout the winter will give them the skills and techniques they need to stay safe in the water.
The basics of swim safety teach your child to turn over and float independently in case they accidentally find themselves in deep water. As the foundation of toddler and kids swimming lessons, instructors will help your child build upon these skills so they feel comfortable and confident while swimming in any body of water – from the bathtub to the ocean.
After a winter of swimming lessons, you can have peace of mind come summer when pools open, vacations call, and your child longs to get swimming!
As you can see, there are several key benefits of keeping your child enrolled in swimming lessons throughout the winter.
For more information on the Swim Lessons that Clubworx offers visit: clubworx.net/swim-school