Question...

Can learning to swim make my kid smarter?

Read below to gain some insight into some of the benefits of swimming at an early age

The safety benefits of learning to swim are obvious (an 88% reduction in risk of drowning for children aged one to four, according to a study conducted by Dr. Ruth Brenner at the National Institute of Health), as are the physical health benefits of swimming but… Can swimming make your kids smarter?

Apparently so according to a study jointly funded by Griffith University, Swim Australia and the Kids Alive Swim Program 5 years ago.. 

“Many of these skills are highly valuable in other learning environments and will be of considerable benefit for young children as they transition into pre-schools and school.”

It makes me think – Maybe I should have taken the plunge and learnt to swim before the age of 15!! Just kidding (but it is a good excuse).

Anyway, the research shows that your kids, as young as two or three, can hit learning milestones and targets earlier than normal in a wide range of skills including visual-motor, language and numeracy through learning to swim from an early age. The results are quite fascinating and reveal many other amazing findings that I won’t touch on here, but I highly recommend further reading on the topic.

“The children were anywhere from six to 15 months ahead of the normal population when it came to cognitive skills, problem solving in mathematics, counting, language and following instructions.”

On top of this, many parents who have kids enrolled in swimming lessons also positively recognise the emotional and social growth of their toddler as they learn to gain confidence and participation skills in a fun and friendly environment.

So, if you want your kids to have a head start in life, learning to swim will put them in the fast lane.