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Volunteering at Scouts is changing to help us reach more young people

Volunteering is changing to help us reach more young people

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Discover what this means

Think or sink

Use this rhyme to think about swimming safely.
Plan a session with this activity

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You’ll need

  • Access to the internet

Read the rhyme

  1. Everyone should split into small teams. Each team needs a copy of the rhyme.
  2. Everyone should read the rhyme and make sure they understand it.

Add some actions

  1. Each team should come up with movements or actions for each of the lines.
  2. The teams should practice the rhyme with the actions. Encourage everyone to remember it as a warm-up to do before a session of swimming.

Find a place to swim

  1. Everyone should research where they can go swimming locally. This could be an indoor pool or an outdoor waterway. If you’re struggling to find somewhere to swim near you:

Reflection

This activity is about getting ready to go swimming and be physically active. It could be used as part of a warm-up before a session of swimming. Why is it important to warm up before we do physical activities? Which muscles might you use while you are swimming?

This activity is also about personal wellbeing, and keeping safe when you are swimming. Think about some of the things mentioned in the rhyme. Why are they important? How can you keep yourself safe while swimming? What methods can you use to identify hazards?

Safety

All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.

Water games and activities

Be careful when doing activities with, in, or near water. Check surfaces and reduce the risk of slipping where possible. Make sure you have appropriate supervision for this activity.

Teams could write more rhyming lines and come up with more actions if they can think of other safety rules for swimming. Teams can also try to learn the rhyme off by heart.

Some teams may struggle to read the rhyme. A leader could read it out loud, and encourage the teams to discuss the actions they would do.

All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.

Swimmer Stage 1