Water Play’s Not Just For Babies!

By Gordon Ellard
 

I was born on the beach in the south of Thailand and grew up playing in the water there. For me the combination of laughter, water, and children is a hard one to beat, especially in Thailand, where we are blessed with temperatures of around 30°C year round—temperatures which beg us to swim daily! Some of the best weekends I have spent with my own children have been water-based weekends. 
 

Sandcastles and fishermen

My “happy place” when the children were younger was at our favorite beach just out of Bangkok, where we spent hours running from the “massive” shore-breaking waves that we get in Thailand. They were never too scary and provided unlimited entertainment as long as you weren’t the one getting dumped. If the waves were too big, we dug moats, quickly before the tide came in, to protect the sandcastles that we'd so diligently built. 

I remember that if we were up early enough we’d head down to the beach and help the fishermen pull in their nets, which put a whole new dimension on what water and the sea is for.

We’d often take a mat into the water too and pretend that we couldn’t see land while talking about what we could see other than the shoreline. You definitely need goggles for this one, and other than the odd plastic bag or polystyrene container, there is so much exciting stuff to see under the water. This is all over and above just swimming in the sea.
 

Make the most of pool resorts

Most resorts in Thailand provide equipment for children’s swimming activities. If you find a pool attendant, they often have noodles, inflatable toys or at least some balls stored somewhere; this is all if you have forgotten your own. 

There is a great resort in Hua Hin with a huge slide, which my son Saiburi went on 63 times in one day without missing a beat. There was the never ending happiness of going up and down the slide, and of course we were happy lounging in the pool below watching him hit the water. 

The same resort has a sand pool that is graduated into the water. Graduated pools are a perfect opportunity for toddlers to feel independent and secure whilst also having fun in the water. If the resort that you are staying at does not have a child-friendly pool, join in the daily water aerobics with your children. It is hilarious—well, maybe not for the instructor, but it was for me!  

Being a sociable little fella, my son Saiburi loved to make new friends in most pools that we swam in. He loved to play games and impersonate one of his favorite aliens from the animation Ben 10 or act out the latest Disney character, usually with the help of a newfound friend. It was so much fun watching his imagination run wild, at the same time as laughing and playing with new friends.
 

The water highlight of the week 

Back in Bangkok, and especially on the weekends, my children always begged me to go downstairs to the pool. Luckily for us, we did get a fair amount of sun on the pool, so the whole experience wasn’t too painful!

Saiburi, especially, liked to get all the equipment out and spent hours inventing new ways to go down the slide, introducing his latest crazy dance routine on mats or diving for treasure in the deepest part of the pool. My daughter Harriet, who at the time was just two-and-a-half years old, loved to try and copy her big brother, which at times was a little scary for us parents, but she always seemed to come up with a big grin on her face.

Being a swim teacher and father, the water highlight of the week for me was the swim lessons with Harriet. It was during these lessons that she actually proved what she could do in the water as opposed to just horsing around in the pool at home. It was also a fun way to spend time with other children the same age and the 30-minute class always seemed to fly by far too fast.
 

An easy way to keep children amused

The water environment is a place children love to discover the feeling of being independent. Splashing, playing, and swimming in the water are some of the easiest ways to keep children amused, occupied, and entertained for hours, and it’s a fun environment for the whole family.

So this Songkran, get out your swimmers and your toys, and head to the beach or a pool and enjoy all that water has to offer.

Photos from Canva.
 

About the Author

Gordon Ellard is the founder of Bangkok Dolphins, which was established in 1997.   He is an assessor and trainer for Swim Australia where he trains new swim teachers in both Thailand and Australia.

Gordon has a passion for all things swimming and has worked to establish a program at Bangkok Dolphins that is accredited by the Thai Ministry of Education. His favorite age to teach is babies and the learn-to-swim range.  

Gordon is married and has two teenage children, who he taught to swim.