You’ve seen all the pool toys here at Goldfish Swim School, but did you know they have actual educational components? We’re not just playing around: Our instructors use them as tools to achieve our famous extraordinary results. To learn more about what toys are tied to what skills, read on!

Rings

You’ve probably spent plenty of time playing with rings or some other type of sinking toy that you have to dive underwater to retrieve. And being faster than your friends and siblings to round them up is fun, right?

Well, there’s more to the rings than teaching swimmers great breath control and giving them incentive to swim down to the bottom: For young swimmers still learning, the rings are a fun tool to teach them how to swim on top of the water.

How? Because kids get to throw the ring and swim above it — which helps your little goldfish keep his or head in the water and looking down, instead of forward.

Barbells

The floating barbells (yes, that’s exactly what they look like) are tools that help kids during various stages of swim lessons. For the newest learners, the barbells are easy to put under their arms while they float and give little kicks — which gives them confidence in the water. That’s definitely something to celebrate!

Then, once comfortable, swimmers can hold the barbell in front of them while they put their face in the water and work on productive kicks that keep them swimming straight ahead! (There are so many benefits for learning to swim!)

For the next level of learning, the smaller barbells — which are about half the size — are used to teach the basic swim stroke. Kids hold the barbell in front of them with one hand while floating on the water and use the opposite hand to do windmill strokes in and out of the water. This teaches kids the right motions, bit by bit.

Kickboards

Sure, the kickboards help swimmers learn to kick — but did you know there’s more to it? First of all, and probably most obviously, the kickboards are used while held out in front of your little goldfish to help focus on kicking when swimming forward (and as a bonus, it also helps with breath control by allowing time to come up for air).

But, the kickboards are also a great tool for helping kids stay afloat on their backs — in addition to teaching them how to swim on their backs. By holding the kickboard over their knees, kids can gain the confidence to be on their backs while incorporating productive kicks into the routine.

Rubber Duckies

“Rubber Ducky, you’re the one…You make bath time so much fun.” Remember when Ernie said that on Sesame Street? Well, rubber duckies aren’t just for the bathtub! For babies who are learning to swim, they make great tools for building comfort in the pool. And they become a great incentive to swim: Having a little one toss a rubber ducky in the water allows for that natural instinct to get to it and retrieve it, using those water legs!

Goldfish Swim School

Find a Goldfish Swim School location near you and register today to sign your swimmer up for classes! Several levels are available for ages 4 months and older; and our instructors use integrity, compassion and trust to teach kids how to swim in a unique environment.

(It’s important to remember that while some of these swim tools do float, they are not to be used as flotation or life-saving devices.)