What it is
Swimmers should be able to participate and follow directions in a group setting throughout the entire lesson. This is a readiness indicator: if a toddler can join a group activity without anxiety, fear, or dominating the group, they demonstrate readiness for a group lesson in deeper water with more advanced skills.
Essentials
- Participate and follow directions in a group setting throughout the entire lesson.
- Remain part of the class and not wander off.
- Stay near the instructor during activities.
- Keep in a close orbit when traveling around the pool or water area.
- Remain with the group even when not physically penned in by a bench.
What goes wrong
- Children wander off on their own → Remind them to stay near the instructor; if needed, physically pick them up and keep them by your side.
- Children are a challenge to keep interested in activities → Attend to them in a positive way and encourage participation.
- Children take over and dominate the group → Use the same positive-attention strategy; the goal is balanced participation, not silence.
How you know it worked
Swimmer participates and follows directions in a group setting throughout the entire lesson without wandering off. Bonus: remains with the group even when not physically penned in by a bench, and keeps in a close orbit when traveling around the pool or water area.
How you teach it
Guppies Toddler is a bridge between Parent Tot and Level 1, designed for zero-depth water (beachfront style) where instructors and swimmers can move about in a large space. The pool location should be the shallowest of shallow ends at your facility; generally this class should not be offered in traditional 3-foot-deep pools. Instructors play games, do water exploration activities, and teach swim skills through play.
Use structured group activities to build the skill. Examples from the course:
- Pick Up Rings – Give each swimmer 6 rings and have them retrieve them using: foot, hand, shoulder underwater, lips in the water, or a foot with both hands above water.
- Ring Around the Rosie – Sing the song; the instructor stays low in the water, not standing. At "we all fall down," everyone goes underwater.
- Mushroom Man Game – Swimmers must go underwater to reach the mushroom man and get a reward. The reward is a chance to dance around the mushroom while being rained on.
Feedback strategy: attend to the swimmers in your group in a positive way and do your best to encourage the wild ones from leaving the class area. You may need to physically pick them up and keep them by your side. The underlying purpose is not just compliance but demonstrating that the child can be part of a group and participate without anxiety, fear, or taking over and dominating the group—that is the signal they are ready for deeper-water group lessons with more advanced skills like streamlines and front crawl.