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Think or sink

Use this rhyme to think about swimming safely.

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You’ll need

  • A print out or written out copy of the rhyme for each group

Before you begin

  • Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. There's also more guidance to help you carry out your risk assessment, including examples.   
  • Make sure all young people and adults involved in the activity know how to take part safely. 

Become the rhyme

  1. Split everyone into small teams. Each team needs a copy of the rhyme.
  2. Ask everyone to read the rhyme.
  3. Each team should come up with movements or actions for each of the lines.
  4. The teams should practice the rhyme with the actions. 
  5. When each team is ready, they should show their rhymes to the other groups.

Reflection

This activity is about getting ready to go swimming and be physically active. It could be used as part of a warm-up before a session of swimming. Why is it important to warm up before we do physical activities? Which muscles might you use while you are swimming?

This activity is also about personal wellbeing, and keeping safe when you are swimming. Think about some of the things mentioned in the rhyme. Why are they important? How can you keep yourself safe while swimming? What methods can you use to identify hazards?

Safety

All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.

You must run your activities in line with the Safeguarding Code of Conduct for Adults (Yellow Card) and report any concerns to the UK HQ Safeguarding Team.

Water games and activities

Be careful when doing activities with, in, or near water. Check surfaces and reduce the risk of slipping where possible. Make sure you have appropriate supervision for this activity.

Teams could write more rhyming lines and come up with more actions if they can think of other safety rules for swimming. Teams can also try to learn the rhyme off by heart.

Some teams may struggle to read the rhyme. A leader could read it out loud, and encourage the teams to discuss the actions they would do.

All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.

Swimmer Stage 1