By Susana Soares, Ana Carolina Coelho Leite, Ana Rita Oliveira Ferreira, Carolina Monteiro Ferreira Mota, Daniela Sofia Marques Vieira, Inês Catarina Dias Vieira, Tomás Lopez Simão
I CAN recognize risk situations in the water and move away safely.
I KNOW how to identify unsafe behaviors in the aquatic environment.
Children identify at least two risk situations and demonstrate how to act appropriately, either through gestures or verbal explanations.
Environment: Deep water swimming pool
Space: One 25-meter lane
Equipment: Colored rings/submerged toys ("safety crystals"), laminated cards illustrating hazards, kickboards or floating objects representing dangers
Small group (~8 children) with similar skill level, organized along the 25-meter lane.
Initially, free exploration, followed by teacher-guided simulations.
The teacher remains outside the water to supervise and ensure safety.
Safety is ensured through continuous supervision and clearly defined activity boundaries.
Total duration: approximately 15 minutes (main part of the session)
Phase 1: Exploration (5’)
Phase 2: Simulations (5’)
Phase 3: Conclusion (5’)
Children must be able to move independently and confidently in deep water.
Children are invited to take on the role of underwater explorers on a mission to collect “Safety Crystals” (represented by balls, hoops, toys, or other colorful materials) scattered throughout the pool. The mission involves diving, collecting the objects, and placing them in the corresponding bucket based on their color or shape, promoting organization and attention.
What the children do not know at first is that, during the exploration, there are “hidden dangers” in the environment (illustrated cards with risky situations). When a child encounters something that does not seem to be part of the “treasures,” they must raise their hand and identify the risks they found. This part is an opportunity for spontaneous observation by the teachers to understand whether the children are aware of risks and how they react to them.
After the exploration phase, a second simulated phase takes place, in which teachers explicitly represent risk situations (e.g., simulating someone drowning, running intentionally at the edge of the pool, or pushing someone).
In the final part, each child receives a prize for each risk they identify and explain. If a student identifies at least two risks, shows attentiveness, and demonstrates appropriate behavior in dealing with the risks, they will be recognized as a “Safe Underwater Explorer.”
