If your child is enrolled at Fulton Swim School, then you already know that swimming lessons are worth the investment! Swimming offers so many incredible benefits for your child and there is nothing better to invest in than the health of your family.
Why Swimming and Physical Activity are Important for Child Development
Ever feel like your child would much prefer to be inside in front of a screen than outside enjoying everything the world has to offer them? If that sounds familiar, you’ve probably felt like you’ve been nagging your children to do something physical and debated whether it’s worth fighting the battle to get them outside.
We’re here to tell you that it is. You’re doing an awesome job, and yes! You absolutely should be encouraging your children to move their bodies - it’s important for their health and development!
Sure, we all know that physical activity is important for every child’s development, but why is it important? What are the benefits of regular physical activity? And is all physical activity equally as good?
Studies conducted by Swim England found that regular swimmers have 28% less risk of all causes of mortality and 41% less risk of cardiovascular disease mortality, compared to people who don’t swim regularly. Activity & Nutrition Aotearoa states that water-based activities have specific advantages over land-based exercises. Plus, swimming regularly can improve cardiorespiratory fitness or endurance in children which could help them play for longer; and which child wouldn’t want that?!
Here are some of the developmental benefits of regular physical activity:
Physical development
For children, regular physical activity is important as it can help to build muscle, and increase mobility, flexibility, and coordination. Physical activity also helps to improve balance and promotes good posture too! Gently encouraging your child to pursue exercise helps them to grow strong bones, muscles, and joints while helping them to develop healthy habits at the same time!
Helping your child to build a healthy and sustainable routine that includes a decent amount of physical activity will help to set them up for life!
Participating in any kind of physical activity regularly helps to maintain a healthy body but, since swimming is low-impact, it’s the perfect activity for little ones recovering from surgery, suffering from chronic pain or illness, or wanting to avoid contact or high-impact sports.
All of our pools are heated to 32 degrees celsius to ensure all of our swimmers are warm, comfortable, and safe from injury; this means that all children can have fun while also avoiding injuries from strains, sprains, and impacts.
You may notice some of the physical developmental benefits of swimming immediately when your child begins regular water-based physical activity; they may feel stronger and have more endurance. Other benefits may only become apparent long-term; like reduced illness or injury. In both cases, you can be sure that supporting your child to swim regularly will have lasting rewards for their physical health for the rest of their life!
Mental development
Of course, supporting your child’s development isn’t just about their physical development! Physical activity can also help with your child’s brain development and mental health.
Physical activity can help children regulate their behaviour and manage their emotions. It provides an outlet for excess energy and frustration, reducing the likelihood of disruptive or aggressive behaviour at home, and at school, meaning more time to focus on learning and having fun!
Swimming has been shown to boost cognitive function in children. It can help improve their memory, learning, and problem-solving skills. Swimming can also help with mental health challenges like stress and anxiety. Big emotions like anxiety and stress only become harder to deal with as we get older, so giving your children the tools to move through overwhelming feelings is a useful skill that they’ll benefit from for the rest of their lives.
Enrolling your child in swimming lessons is also great to help them build their confidence in social settings, develop friendships and grow their confidence within themselves.
Quality rest
We all know that awful feeling when you wake up feeling like you haven’t slept a wink! But you also probably know how great you sleep when you’ve had a physically demanding day, or spent the day swimming at the beach. There’s nothing better than falling asleep just as your head hits the pillow, sleeping right through the night, and waking up just a few minutes before your alarm feeling completely rested and ready to take on the day!
Bad sleep and not enough high-quality rest can wreak havoc on us adults, and we’re not growing like weeds, and learning constantly like our kids are!
Regular physical activity is essential for children because it helps them to fall asleep faster and enjoy deeper, higher-quality sleep. Getting good rest helps your child’s development by supporting hormone production, physical growth, cognitive development, and emotional well-being.
Why Fulton Swim School?
At every Fulton Swim School, we celebrate every success and acknowledge every child’s development. Our swim school family loves celebrating the milestones each swimmer achieves, no matter how big or small. We get the kids to ring the achievement bell whenever they’ve mastered a new skill, or given something their best go, each child is given Graduation Ribbons as they move through their lessons and complete levels, plus there are digital certificates through our app, and of course, there are lots of smiles and high fives in the pool!
If you’d like your child to reap the rewards of swimming regularly, but your child feels like a fish out of water while they’re in the water, then you should consider giving swimming lessons a go! And who better to teach your child than the experts at Fulton Swim School?
If you’re ready to dive in and help your child gain the benefits of joining in on regular physical activity, reach out to our friendly staff, or enrol them for swimming lessons at your local Fulton Swim School and watch your child grow into a strong, confident, happy adult!
