Why swimming is the BEST family activity

So many of the activities my children do I no longer feel I am apart of. When they go to choir or orchestra or drama it is with their peers and during school time. When they go to karate or football or tennis it is for coaching and with a club with children their own age.

It is very easy to feel shut out of their life.

My children are 11 and 14 now so it is entirely normal that I am less a part of what they do. Of course, when they were little I did most of their activities with them and it’s inevitable this stage of independence comes.

I do miss those days though when we would head off for activities together and I got lots of lovely time with them. We still have days out altogether- usually trips somewhere and occasionally long walks. We also have movie nights and board games time.

One physical activity that we have always done together and continue to do regularly though is swimming. Oh, how we love swimming. It is definitely the best family activity in my book.

Here are the reasons why swimming is  the best family activity.

 

Affordable

Swimming is an affordable activity compared t going to the cinema or laser questing or other family trips out. It works out really cost effective for the time you get in the pool. You can often buy a family ticket at your local leisure centre which keeps costs down even further

 

Swimming is great for emotional wellbeing.

A recent poll, commissioned by Swim England, found that 500k people have reduced, or no longer take, medication for their mental health because they have been going swimming. What an incredible statistic.  Swimming is calming, takes you right away from technology and allows you to be completely in the moment. It metaphorically and physically washes a family’s cares away, enabling them to bond and to relax.

 

Playing

Kids often declare themselves too old for playing but as we adults know you are never too old. There is something about being in water that makes playing as a family still acceptable no matter what your age. This can include diving for sticks or it can include playing ball. Kids are happy to race in you in the pool but they would totally not think it cool to race you on a walk past age 10.

Swimming helps everyone chill out!

 

You don’t need much kit

Apart from goggles and a swimming costume you don’t need an awful lot of kit to go swimming ( unlike horseriding or football!) so it really is a very inclusive and accessible sport.  There is a lot of lovely kids swimwear over at Simply Swim and all the accessories you could possibly need.  You can see the swimwear featured throughout this post. My favourite? Oh, it has to be the dive sticks. Just one set of dive sticks can bring so many hours of fun and we always take our set on holiday with us too.

 

 

Swimming is for everyone

Every single family member you can join in with family fun in the pool, the littlest can have their armbands and floats and still be part of the group. Grandparents too can join in with this much more easily than a trip to the skate park! You don’t have to have equal ability for it to be a fun time as swimming pools are great equalisers!

 

It can’t be rained off

Swimming cannot be rained off unlike a myriad of other activities and that is a complete bonus!

 

Skills for life

There are so many things in life we want to teach our kids and one of the most important of all is how to keep safe. Swimming as a family means we get a chance to see how strong and how well our children can swim and assess if they need more lessons or more guidance. Being able to swim well might just save their life one day and it is important to keep an eye on their water skills.

 

The physical health benefits of swimming

It is so important for families to keep physically well and healthy. Swimming helps develop strong muscles and lungs, it is great for suppleness and it gets the heart pumping. It is also an awesome way to build up stamina and burn off calories, An all-round winner in the fitness stakes!

Swimming is one of the few exercises that you can do that doesn’t have to actually feel like exercising. Just playing or messing about in the ater is really good for you physically and keep the whole family fit without that as its intention.

 

 

Memory building

My dad used to take my sister and I swim a lot when we were kids, he couldn’t stand sitting around on the park he’d get so bored he was an active man., he couldn’t stand the library it was too quiet and in the cinema he fell asleep Swimming was the one thing we always had fun doing together, we would play tag and he’d teach us how to tumble and swim faster. brilliant and memory making times.

What is the best family activity?

Swimming. Swimming. Swimming.

 

Over to you

There really are so many reasons why swimming is the best activity for families. I would love to hear from you if you swim regularly with your family and what you think the benefits are of doing so?

 

I hope you enjoyed my post on why swimming is the best activity for families.