Starfish Wake-Up
Swimmers float as starfish and 'wake up' to standing on the teacher's call – practises floating and recovery together.
- Stages
- Stage 1
- Difficulty
- Developing
- Skills
- Front Float, Back Float, Water Safety
- Equipment
- None, Noodle
- Age
- 4–99 years
- Group size
- 2–12 swimmers
- Time
- About 4 minutes
- In a lesson
- Skill Development 1, Skill Development 2, Game / Consolidation
- Shared by
- SwimShare Resource
Safety notes
- Space swimmers so that recovering arms don't hit neighbours.
What it develops
- Float on the front with support
- Float on the back with support
- Return to standing from a float
How to run it
- Swimmers float as starfish on their front or back (with equipment if needed).
- Teacher calls 'Morning!' and swimmers recover to standing as quickly as they safely can.
- Call 'Night night!' and they return to their float.
- Mix front and back calls.
Teaching cues
- Front: knees in, press down, stand.
- Back: chin forward, sit, stand.
- Control, not speed.
Make it easier
- Float with a noodle.
- Only practise one direction.
Make it harder
- No equipment.
- Swap from front to back without standing.
Common faults
- Rushing and splashing.
Corrections
- Award the 'calmest starfish' not the fastest.
Assistant / L1 role
- Stand with swimmers who struggle to recover and support them through the movement.