Island Hopping
Swimmers travel between floating 'islands' without walking, building independent front and back travel over short distances.
- Stages
- Stage 2
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Skills
- Water Confidence, Forward Travel, Backward Travel
- Equipment
- Float, Hoops
- Age
- 4–9 years
- Group size
- 3–12 swimmers
- Time
- About 5 minutes
- In a lesson
- Introduction / Warm-up, Game / Consolidation
- Shared by
- SwimShare Resource
Safety notes
- Keep all islands in standing depth.
- Watch for swimmers crowding on the same island.
What it develops
- Travel about 10 metres on the front
- Travel about 10 metres on the back
How to run it
- Scatter floating hoops or floats a few metres apart as islands.
- Swimmers start at one island and travel to the next with feet off the floor.
- Call the way to travel: front with kick, back with kick, or any way you like.
- Swimmers can hold an island to rest before hopping to the next.
Teaching cues
- Feet off the floor.
- Long body, little kicks.
- Rest on the island, then go again.
Make it easier
- Move islands closer together.
- Swimmers wear a noodle or hold a float between islands.
Make it harder
- Spread the islands further apart.
- Travel on the back to every second island.
Common faults
- Walking between islands.
- Rushing and swallowing water.
Corrections
- Make the floor 'sea' – feet must stay off.
- Remind swimmers to blow bubbles as they travel.
Assistant / L1 role
- Stand near the widest gap between islands and be the 'lighthouse' – stay in place as a target for swimmers who aren't yet confident travelling the whole distance.