Wave for Help
Practise what to do if you are in trouble: hold on, wave one arm and shout for help.
- Stages
- Stage 1
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Skills
- Buoyancy, Water Safety
- Equipment
- Float, Noodle
- Age
- 4–99 years
- Group size
- 1–15 swimmers
- Time
- About 3 minutes
- In a lesson
- Skill Development 1, Skill Development 2, Recap / Safe Exit
- Shared by
- SwimShare Resource
Safety notes
- Make clear this is a practice signal – swimmers should only use it for real in a real emergency.
What it develops
- Understand basic pool safety
How to run it
- Swimmers hold the wall with one hand.
- Explain the signal: one arm straight up, waving side to side, and a loud 'HELP!'.
- On 'Help!' from the teacher, swimmers make the signal while keeping hold with the other hand.
- Progress to holding a float or noodle for support and waving with the free hand.
Teaching cues
- Hold on to something that floats.
- One arm up and wave, big and slow.
- Shout loudly and keep calm.
Make it easier
- Practise standing in shallow water with feet on the floor.
Make it harder
- Hold a float, lie back and wave while floating.
- Discuss what to do if you see someone else in trouble: call, don't go.
Common faults
- Letting go of support to wave with both arms.
Corrections
- 'One hand holds, one hand waves' – repeat as a chant.
Assistant / L1 role
- Hold the float steady for swimmers who cannot manage the free-hand wave on their own.