Underwater Word Hunt
Letters on sinkers or laminated cards are scattered on the pool floor; teams collect them to spell a word.
- Stages
- Stage 3
- Difficulty
- Developing
- Skills
- Aquatic Breathing, Submersion
- Equipment
- Sinkers
- Age
- 6–12 years
- Group size
- 4–12 swimmers
- Time
- About 6 minutes
- In a lesson
- Game / Consolidation
- Shared by
- SwimShare Resource
Safety notes
- Limit how many swimmers are under at once.
- No breath-holding competitions.
What it develops
- Submerge confidently and retrieve objects
- Breathe out in a controlled way underwater
How to run it
- Scatter weighted letter cards or labelled sinkers on the floor.
- Give each team a word to spell.
- Swimmers take turns going under to find a letter they need and bring it back.
- First team to spell their word wins.
Teaching cues
- Eyes open.
- Blow out slowly while you search.
- Come up, breathe, go again.
Make it easier
- Shallow water and short words.
- Letters on the steps.
Make it harder
- Deeper water and longer words.
- Only one breath per letter.
Common faults
- Staying under too long searching.
- Grabbing the first letter they see.
Corrections
- 'Look, come up, plan, then go.'
- Remind them the team can help point from above.
Assistant / L1 role
- Supervise the search zone in the water, making sure only one swimmer per team is under at a time.