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Aquatics
Make a splash! Explore our many popular aquatics programs and healthy activities. Swim team, swim lessons, water fitness, water sports, training/certification or just open swim with friends.
Water fun for the whole family!
May Is National Water Safety Month!
Watch the 2022 National Water Safety Month video written, directed and produced by our talented aquatics staff.
Our goal is to help you and your family stay safe IN, ON, and AROUND water this summer (and all year long)!
Take the Pool Safely Pledge and browse www.poolsafely.gov for water safety information for parents and kids. Share your Pledge on social media with the hashtag #PledgeItOn.
Let us know what you’ve done to learn about water safety by sharing with us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter @pleasanthillrec.com and with the hashtags #PHRecAquatics, #RedCrossWaterSafety, #WaterSafetyAtHome, #NotOneMoreDrowning, #DrowningIsPreventable.
Activities for Kids
From the American Red Cross, Water Safety for Kids is a source of information all about the importance of water safety with activities and quizzes for kids, WHALE Tales video lessons, and “live” links to other helpful safety sites. WHALE Tales features eight water safety topics to help teach elementary-school aged children about water safety while they are at home and can be utilized for “dry-land” online and classroom training.
If your child is nervous about taking swimming lessons, as many children are, reading a book about swimming together may help. Many of the children or animals in these stories are not sure about taking swimming lessons or getting into the water. But they work through their fear and by the end of the story they are happily swimming. You should always read through a story first before you read it to your child to make sure that you will be sending a positive message. Choose a story that is going to help your child rather than scare him or her even more.
Here are some ideas to get you started. We’ve listed the age range each book is geared towards. If you have a favorite swimming book we haven’t listed, please let us know!
- Saturday is Swimming Day by Hyewon Yum (4-6 yrs)
- Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall (4-8 yrs)
- Over and Under the Pond by Kate Messner (5-8 yrs)
- Josh the Otter by Blake Collingsworth
- Shark Lady by Jess Keating (4 yrs & Up)
- Manfish by Jennifer Berne (4-7 yrs)
- Leo Can Swim by Anna McQuinn (0-3 yrs)
- Learn to Swim with Lou by Kim Shults (2-9 yrs)
- Stewie the Duck Learns to Swim by Kimberly Leonard & Lawrence Shapiro (2-6 yrs)
- The Polar Bear Who Couldn’t, Wouldn’t Swim by Karen & Brian Cohn (4-7 yrs)
- Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister (4-8 yrs)
- Albie the Lifeguard by Louise Borden (4-8 yrs)
- Froggy Learns to Swim by Jonathan London (0-3 yrs)
- Last One in is a Rotten Egg by Leonard Kessler (4-8 yrs)
- Sea Swan by Kathryn Lasky (6 yrs & Up)
- Swim with Me by Sue Peterson (2-4 yrs)
- Tuck in the Pool by Martha Weston (3-6 yrs)
- Joe’s Pool by Claire Henley (5-7 yrs)
- Let’s Jump In by Susan Hood (5-6 yrs)
- Maisy’s Pool by Lucy Cousins (2-5 yrs)
- Swim! By Eve Rice (4 yrs & Up)
- Swim Like a Fish by Ellen Schecter (5-6 yrs)
- Swimming is for Me by Lowell Dickmeyer (7-10 yrs)
- Time to Swim by Craig McKee and Margaret Holland (5-7 yrs)
- William and Boomer by Lindsay Barrett George (4 yrs & Up)
- Llama Llama Learns to Swim by Anna Dewdney (4-6 yrs)
- Maisy Learns to Swim by Lucy Cousins (2-5 yrs)
- 1,2,3 Jump by Lisl H. Detlefsen (3-6 yrs)
- Peppa Goes Swimming by Scholastic (3-5 yrs)
- My First Swim Class by Alyssa Satin Capucilli (3-5 yrs)
- Ruby Learns to Swim by Phillip Gwynne (3-5 yrs)
- Swim Time with Steve the Duck by Kim & Steve Leonard (0-3 yrs)
- Water Safety with Swimmy by Caroline Caron (2-8 yrs)
- Little Pig Learns to Swim by Margaret Nasin (5-6 yrs)
- Swim Boots Swim-Dora the Explorer by Random House (3-7 yrs)
- Making A Splash by Carol E Reley (5-12 yrs)
- Sergio Makes A Splash by Edel Rodriguez (5-6 yrs)
- The Deep End by Ursula Dubosarsky (5 yrs & Up)
- The Deep End by Rebecca Patterson (4-7 yrs)
- Rande’s First Swim:Water Safety & Swimming by Chase Miller (3-7 yrs)
- Learn to Swim:Teaching You to Teach Your Child to Swim by Benjamin Roberts
Longfellows WHALE Tales: Water Habits Are Learned Early
WHALE Tales are short, engaging and age-appropriate lessons that teach the importance of water safety topics. Each lesson centers on a memorable rhyming phrase to help children remember what they have learned.
Each lesson has one or more worksheets (PDF) to support the safety topic. You can find videos and activities below or on the Red Cross website. Share your completed worksheets with us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter @pleasanthillrec.com and with the hashtags #PHRecAquatics, #RedCrossWaterSafety, #WaterSafetyAtHome, #NotOneMoreDrowning, #DrowningIsPreventable.
Lesson 1 - Swim as a Pair Near a Lifeguard’s Chair
- What is a Buddy?
- What is a Supervised Swimming Area?
- What does a Lifeguard Need? (cut/paste)
- What does a Lifeguard Need? (draw a line)
- What does a Lifeguard Need? (word unscramble)
- Path to Safe Swimming
Lesson 2 - Be Cool, Follow the Rules
Lesson 3 - Look Before You Leap
- Check It Out
- Watch Out
- Think Before You Jump In (coloring sheet)
- Think Before You Jump In (word search)
- Ocean Food Chain
- Help the Whale
Lesson 4 - Think So You Don’t Sink
Share your completed worksheets with us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter @pleasanthillrec.com and with the hashtags #PHRecAquatics, #RedCrossWaterSafety, #WaterSafetyAtHome, #NotOneMoreDrowning, #DrowningIsPreventable.
Lesson 5 - Reach or Throw, Don’t Go
- Reach Out and Help
- Find a Float
- To the Rescue
- Reach or Throw
- Where There is Ice There is Water
- Make a Safety Post
Lesson 6 - Don’t Just Pack It, Wear Your Jacket
- What Color is Your Life Jacket?
- Where is Your Life Jacket?
- Don't Just Pack It
- Life Jackets Word Search
- Read the Label
Lesson 7 - Think Twice Before Going Near Cold Water or Ice
- Signs of Hypothermia
- Make Good Choices Around Cold Water and Ice
- Reach or Throw (Ice)
- Ice Self Rescue
- Think Twice
Lesson 8 - Know About Boating Before You Go Floating
Share your completed worksheets with us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter @pleasanthillrec.com and with the hashtags #PHRecAquatics, #RedCrossWaterSafety, #WaterSafetyAtHome, #NotOneMoreDrowning, #DrowningIsPreventable.
Lesson 9 - Too Much Sun Is No Fun
Lesson 10 - In Your House and in Your Yard, Water for Water, Be on Guard
- Find the Water Hazards in the House and Yard
- Be Water Smart
- Know Your Neighborhood
- Flood Word Search
- Flood Safety
Lesson 11 - Wave, Tide or Ride, Follow the Guide
Emergency Preparedness Activities for Kids
Developed for 3rd-5th grade students, The Pillowcase Project aims to increase children’s understanding of natural hazards and empower them to prepare for emergencies
- Download resources like My Preparedness Workbook, posters and activity sheets (available in English and Spanish) for kids to learn about home fire prevention and safety and other emergencies, such as tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, and more.
- Work with children to create a household emergency plan and personal emergency supplies kit.
- If available, encourage children to be creative and decorate a spare pillowcase to hold their own emergency supplies.
Find more resources and links from the Red Cross here.
A complement to The Pillowcase Project, Prepare with Pedro is designed for K-2nd grade students. Children can follow Pedro the Penguin as he learns how to be prepared for and take action during home fires or other emergencies through a fun and educational story.
- Download storybooks in English and Spanish for emergencies, including home fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, floods and tsunamis.
Find more resources and links from the Red Cross here.
While you’re home, spend time together preparing for emergencies. The Red Cross has information for how you can prepare for different emergencies.
- Learn how to prepare and respond to different types of emergencies.
- Make an Emergency Plan
- Plan for Home Fire Safety, and make a home fire escape plan
- Practice as many elements of your plan as possible.
Activities for Adults
The American Red Cross First Aid App gives instant access to information on how to handle the most common first aid emergencies. Also available in Spanish! Available from the App Store or Goggle Play, or text "GETFIRST" to 90999.
American Red Cross Skills for Amazon Alexa includes critical first aid instruction. Available for popular Alexa enabled devices including Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Show and Echo Spot.
Download the American Red Cross Swim App and learn to help keep your loved ones safe in and around water with drowning prevention & emergency information. Includes educational games and videos for kids. Available from the App Store or Goggle Play, or text "SWIM" to 90999.
Water Safety Information is a public resource for water safety and water competency information from the American Red Cross.
Water Safety for Parents and Caregivers Course
This course focuses on developing an awareness of the risks of drowning and how to minimize those risks, especially for young children. This online course teaches parents and caregivers about the concepts of the circle of drowning prevention, water competency and the chain of drowning survival. It also provides guidance for applying water safety to common environments and situations where children are most at risk for drowning. This is a free, online course.
A Spanish version of the course is available here.
Una versión en español del curso está disponible aquí.
"Dive-In" Movies
Set up a pool float in front of your TV and have a marathon with these swimming-related movies. Movies are listed alphabetically.
| Movie | Rating | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Finding Dory (2016) | PG | Friendly but forgetful blue tang Dory begins a search for her long-lost parents, and everyone learns a few things about the real meaning of family along the way. |
| Finding Nemo (2003) | G | After his son is captured in the Great Barrier Reef and taken to Sydney, a timid clownfish sets out on a journey to bring him home. |
| Free Willy (1993) | PG | When a boy learns that a beloved killer whale is to be killed by the aquarium owners, the boy risks everything to free the whale. |
| Jaws (1975) | PG | When a killer shark unleashes chaos on a beach community, it’s up to a local sheriff, a marine biologist, and an old seafarer to hunt the beast down. |
| Pride (2007) | PG | The determined Jim Ellis starts a swim team for troubled teens at the Philadelphia Department of Recreation. |
| Swimming Upstream (2003) | PG-13 | The inspirational life story of Australian swimmer Tony Fingleton. |
| The Last Gold (2016) | Documentary | Narrated by Emmy-winner Julianna Margulies, The Last Gold is a feature-length documentary film that reveals one of the greatest untold stories in Olympic swimming history. Forty years ago, at the 1976 Montreal Games, a team of doped East German athletes thrashed their rivals from the United States, until a remarkable final race. |
| The Sandlot (1993) | PG | Ok, so this isn’t really an aquatics-themed movie, but we love the pool scene with Squints and Wendy Peffercorn! In the summer of 1962, a new kid in town is taken under the wing of a young baseball prodigy and his rowdy team, resulting in many adventures. |
| Touch the Wall (2014) | Documentary | Swimming superstar Missy Franklin was destined for greatness at an early age, but it wasn’t until the arrival of Veteran Kara Lynn Joyce that those sky-high expectations began to take shape. Stream the movie for free. Details here: http://www.touchthewall.com/home |
| Unfiltered (2005) | Documentary | "Unfiltered" is an unprecedented look into the lives and competitive rivalry of two of America’s greatest swimmers: Michael Phelps and Ian Crocker. |