Swimming all year – Why It’s Good to Keep Swimming Through Winter

As the days get colder and shorter, swimming all year is a must through the winter months. At this time of year we all slow down a little – that’s us adults and the kids – we’re indoors more, we wear more layers of clothes, and probably spend a little more time in front of screens. Here are some good reasons to keep your children swimming year round.

1. Keep up physical activity

Swimming all year helps us and our children to keep up a good level of physical activity in the cooler months. Usually in winter, we tend to spend more time in doors which usually can mean we’re all getting less exercise.

Kids still have plenty of energy to burn, so continuing to swim means they have a good positive outlet for that energy.

2. Maintain swimming skills

Younger children especially have a tendency to experience a lapse in swimming skill when they’re out of lessons for a long period of time over winter.

So it’s important to keep children swimming in a heated pool throughout winter to ensure they keep progressing with their swimming skills. Continuing to swim also sustains kids’ confidence in themselves in and around the water.

3. Sensory benefits of year round swimming

With the extra layers of clothing we wear in winter, swimming all year offers kids a different sensory experience to what they have throughout the cooler days. Instead of thick jumpers, layered with singlets, as well as warm socks and thick soled shoes, kids can again peel back to their simple, light swimming costume (bathers, cosi or whichever you say in your home). They can feel that sensation of being light in their clothing and in the water.

4. Greater neurological, social and physical development

Swimming has such great benefits for children’s learning potential. The exercise of swimming is very good for the brain. By continuing to swim year round, your children can have benefits of enhanced neurological development, advanced cognitive development, increased memory; as well as improved social skills and greater development of motor skills.

5. Reduced screen time

Screen time is certainly a hot topic in parenting today and we all have our own family thresholds. One thing about swimming all year is that your child will have a little or a lot less screen time. Obviously the time spent in swimming lessons, as well as getting changed before and after swimming, is time your child won’t be in front of a screen.

So don’t let the cool, sluggishness of winter get to your family, keep swimming all year for these benefits and more!

Winter Swimming Offer

If you enrol into Hampton Swim School for Quarter 3, you’ll also receive 10 FREE lessons* at TumbleTastics. That’s 2 lessons per child for the price of 1! (*T&C’s apply) To find out more click here