Water safety programs save lives. Kids aged one to four are at most risk of drowning, which makes early education and learning to swim key in helping protect our children. This is why Kingswim offers a free water safety program for kindergarten and preschool-aged kids. The program is designed to help everyone have fun and stay safe around water and can be delivered by our team as an incursion or by your own educators.
Kindergarten incursion
Kingswim’s water safety incursions are designed for kindergarten children aged two to five. Filled with fun and interactive activities, the incursion teaches essential water safe concepts and practical skills. This includes basic survival skills and rescue techniques for both the pool and the beach.
Our Kingswim team has been providing free water safety incursions at early learning centres across Melbourne for almost 20 years. We also offer a self-serve option for early learning groups not located near a Kingswim location. We’ll provide you with water safety resources so you can effectively run the program at your centre.
Want to get started with our water safety program? Fill in the form at the bottom of this page to make a booking enquiry.
Teaching preschoolers water safety awareness helps to prevent drownings and non-fatal accidents in the water. It also empowers children to better understand their environment so that they can keep themselves and others safer.
After completing the program, many preschoolers confidently share water safety messages with their parents, which is great! It means that adults (particularly those who may not have had water safety education) can benefit from learning water safety tips too. We also have online water safety information for parents and kids so that they can learn at home.
Water safety for preschoolers
Play-based learning is key in supporting children’s development. That’s why we teach water safety through fun and interactive activities, including a catchy water safety song and games. We also read a book about water safety, created by Kingswim for preschool children.
Through these water safety activities, we introduce children under five to important water safety rules and survival skills so that they can stay safer in different aquatic environments.
Check out our water safety music video which is included in the water safety program.
Kingswim's kindergarten water safety program
Price
Free
Delivery options
- Incursion: For early learning groups located within 5km of a Kingswim centre. Our friendly and professional team will come to you and deliver the water safety program and activities.
- Self-serve: For early learning groups located more than 5km from a Kingswim centre. We’ll provide you with our water safety resources so you can deliver the program yourself.
Duration
1 hour, although the water safety program can be lengthened or shortened depending on your needs.
Participants
The program can be delivered to groups of all sizes, however we recommend that there are at least six children in the class. In the past, we’ve delivered the incursion to groups of 30 and above, and even to multiple classes together! Just let us know your class size and we can work out how best to accommodate you.
Program content
We begin every incursion with story time to ease the kids into the session and encourage conversations about water safety. The rest of the program structure is flexible around the needs of your class, but we’ll typically dive into a mix of fun games and sing along to the Water Safety song.
The program content covers:
- Water safety rules around safe swimming behaviour, how to be sun smart, how to assess an aquatic environment for dangers, how to perform a basic rescue, and the importance of never swimming alone.
- Water safety information for open water environments such as beaches, rivers, and lakes.
- The importance of adult supervision.
- Emergency response skills which give young ones simple steps to follow in the event of an accident.
- Skills and knowledge to help preschoolers make safe judgements and decisions around water.
If you choose our self-serve option, feel free to deliver the program in whichever way suits your early learning group. When you make a booking, we’ll provide you with some recommendations to support you.
The Kingswim team has developed a 10 page activity book for you to use with your class. There are water safety quizzes, colouring sheets, and other fun worksheets for your classroom. Use these activities in your kindergarten lesson plans to familiarise kids with key concepts before the water safety program or to reinforce water safety learning afterwards.
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Where do you run your water safety programs?
We can deliver the water safety incursion at any early learning centre or kindergarten that is located within 5km of a Kingswim site. Visit our locations page and enter your postcode or suburb to check if there’s a Kingswim site near you.
If your early learning group is located more than 5km from a Kingswim centre, we can arrange a self-service option with you. We’ll provide all the resources you need to deliver the program yourself.
Simply let us know if you’re located within 5km when you enquire.
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What's the difference between the water safety incursion and the self-serve option?
The only difference between our incursion and the self-serve option is that incursions are delivered by our Kingswim team while the self-serve water safety program is run by your own early learning educators.
Whether we run an incursion at your centre or you run the program yourself, your children will benefit from the same great water safety resources and activities.
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What does our centre need to provide?
To deliver our water safety incursion, we need access to power. Our educators supply all audio-visual equipment and learning props.
Centres using our self-serve option will need to supply their own equipment and props.
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How much space does the program require?
The program is tailored to fit standard early learning and kindergarten classrooms. Most rooms we’ve presented in can be easily adjusted with some movement of furniture and equipment.
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What happens if we need to cancel an incursion?
We understand that sometimes unexpected things happen – children and staff get sick, and plans can change. If you need to cancel or reschedule your incursion, please try to give us as much notice as possible. Simply call us on 1300 054 647, provide your booking details and advise that you need to cancel or reschedule.
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Do your water safety presenters have Working with Children Checks (WWCC)?
Yes, all presenters have up to date Working with Children Checks.
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Do you have public liability insurance in the event there is an accident during the incursion?
Yes, we have Public and Products Liability and Professional Indemnity insurance with Marsh, to the value of $20M. We can provide a certificate of currency on request.
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I teach preps who are 4 and 5 years old. Can I book your water safety incursion for our school?
Yes, you can book our water safety incursion for your school.
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How does this water safety program align with the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF)?
The program aligns with units on Wellbeing and Community, specifically learning outcomes 1, 2 and 3 of the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) for Australia:
- Outcome 1: Children have a strong sense of identity and feel safe, secure, and supported
- Outcome 2: Children are connected with and contribute to their world
- Outcome 3: Children have a strong sense of wellbeing
If you have specific EYLF outcomes that you would like covered, please let us know and we can work with you to develop this.
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Does this water safety program align with the National Benchmarks for Swimming and Water Safety?
Our water safety awareness presentation aligns with key elements of the National Benchmarks for Swimming and Water Safety for children up to six years old. The benchmarks, established by Australian Water Safety and supported by Royal Life Saving Australia, are the desired competency standards that every Australian should have the opportunity to learn. The benchmarks provide key performance metrics that are achievable at certain ages.
The two main benchmarks that Kingswim’s water safety program covers are:
- Identify rules for safe behaviour at aquatic environments at or near the home.
- Identify people and actions to help in an emergency.
By incorporating key elements from these standards, our water safety incursion program aims to provide comprehensive and age-appropriate education to ensure the safety and well-being of young swimmers.
The water safety program for preschoolers also compliments the water safety and survival swimming education that children learn during in-pool swimming lessons.
Places are limited so enquire today to secure an incursion at a time and date that suits your early learning plan.
When you fill in the water safety program enquiry form, please confirm whether your centre is within 5km of a Kingswim site. Please note we can only deliver incursions to centres within 5km of a Kingswim site (centres outside this radius can opt for a self-serve water safety program).
One of our team members will respond to your enquiry and book your incursion in or send you our self-serve resources. We’ll also send you a confirmation email, so check your inbox a few minutes after you submit your enquiry.