Your Child's Travel Bag Contents for Swimming Lessons
I HIGHLY recommend you CREATE A POOL/SWIMMING TRAVEL BAG for your child’s swimming lessons.
Too many parents show up to lessons with nothing more than their child in a bathing suit. Having a travel bag always packed for swimming lessons will assure that you are always ready for lessons even when in a time crunch.
Do NOT keep the bag in the car if possible. Cars get super hot in the summer sun and the severe heat can damage and melt goggles.
Keep the bag in the laundry room or door to leave or in the garage near the car READY TO GO so you don’t forget it.
Empty the bag after lessons to clean and dry everything out. Pack the bag again after everything is dry and set it by the door/car so it’s ready to go for the next lesson.
Here are the required and recommended items you should keep in the bag.
REQUIRED…
Boogie Wipes (or some other version of these) or Tissues in a WINDPROOF BOX
Many parents prefer Boogie Wipes or Baby Wipes over tissues because they are already wet and won’t fall apart in your child’s wet hands. So do I!
NOT WET WIPES! The main difference between baby wipes and wet wipes is their intended use. Baby wipes are specially formulated to be gentle enough for cleaning a baby’s skin.
Tissues in a WINDPROOF Tissue Box: I cannot say it enough…BRING TISSUES! Nearly every student needs tissues EVERY SINGLE CLASS! If you don’t have them in your bag then class is stopped and we wait. That’s wasted class time.
It may seem like too much to get this tissue box, but boxes of tissues get smashed in pool bags. Plus, the wind blows them into the pool. When that happens class stops and I have to fish tissues out of the pool before I can continue with the lesson. It’s cheaper to buy a windproof tissue box.
This inexpensive tissue box holder keeps your tissues clean and wind resistant. It’s easy to refill.
It looks stylish, is water resistant and has a convenient carrying handle. You can keep it in your car during the off season for year round use. That’s what I do!
You probably think your child doesn’t need tissues. You are wrong. EVERY SINGLE STUDENT I’VE EVER HAD needs tissues.
Also note: due to COVID-19, I will not blow your child’s nose. If your child needs to blow their nose and needs help with this I will call you to help them and then apply hand sanitizer to their hands. It may seem extreme, but it has kept me healthy these past few years. Thank you for understanding.
Hand Sanitizer
Following the recent Coronavirus pandemic hand sanitizer is a requirement for all students to bring to class and to use before class and after blowing their nose. This required item has helped keep me super healthy for the past several seasons. I don’t want to get sick and miss classes! Since implementing the hand sanitizer requirement I have been healthier than ever! So yes, this is a requirement.
Splash About Happy Nappy Swim Diapers AND SWIM Diapers
These are required for any student who is not potty trained for at least 6 months. Shown here is the Splash About Happy Nappy Swim Diaper found on Amazon. You’ll notice the super thick elastic around the waist and legs to keep contaminants in if they have an accident. These must fit snug around the waist and legs. If they are gapping and loose then they are not doing the job for which the pants are intended and are useless.
Not only must your child be wearing these but they must FIT PROPERLY so as to be effective. If they are gapping and loose they are not effective and therefore the same as not wearing any.
These are in ADDITION TO SWIM diapers which go under these. BOTH are required for entrance into the pool.
Hair Bands and Bobby Pins OR Swim Cap
(Required ONLY for students with long hair)
Long hair MUST be pulled back regardless of age or gender. If boys don’t want to pull their long hair back using bobby pins, hair clips or pony tails then they could get a swim cap. You can’t swim if your hair is blocking your eyes, nose or mouth. Or they can cut it. ;)
Some girls hair is so long I get tangled up in it. That is very dangerous for both of us. Hair must be pulled back and secured safely in anyway you wish. Class will not start until hair is secured in a safe manner.
There are a million styles available so even boys with long hair can find a style they will agree to wear if they won’t do a ponytail and bobby pins
If Dad or Grandpa or any other guardian is bringing the child to class please notify them of this requirement and give them lessons in how to prepare the hair ahead of time. Many times I have to do my students hair because their guardian was not prepared and does not know how to do their children’s hair for class.
PONY TAILS: The ideal location for a pony tail is the same height as the top of the ears. That is the perfect height for the goggle straps to rest on. That way the goggle straps won’t keep slipping down during class wasting time.
Please Note: If you chose the swim cap route you will need some talcum powder to take care of the cap in between uses. Rinse the cap out with fresh water. Dry it with a towel and then sprinkle talcum powder inside of it to keep it from sticking together. If it sticks together too much it can become like glue and rip apart destroying the cap.
For ladies with super long hair that want to use swim caps I recommend French braiding the hair, then flipping the tail of the hair up on top of the head and THEN placing the swim cap on the head. This works much better then trying to use a swim cap with a pony tail.
Water Bottle
We live in the desert. Hydrating is super important. Sometimes the littlest students will drink the pool water when they are thirsty. YUCK! Plus, it teaches your kids to always hydrate when working out.
I have a filtered water fountain in the sunroom you can use to fill up the bottle if needed.
Please put your name on the bottle. Kids forget their bottles all the time. I put them in my, “Forgotten, but not Lost” bin for you to pick up at your next lesson.
Fins/Flippers
All students need to bring fins to all classes. Please only purchase styles like the Churchill fins (for older kids with larger feet) like shown above or Finis for smaller kids with small feet. I am very specific on the types of fins used in class because there are a lot of poorly designed fins out there that will be nothing but trouble in class. These are quality brands and as long as the fins fit your child’s feet we shouldn’t waste any time in case fooling around with them. Check out my buying guide for purchasing fins for class.
OPTIONAL
Yes, you are going to pack a towel and maybe goggles and other items for your little swimmer. But these are recommended variations or additional items to consider based on my many years of teaching hundreds/thousands of kids. I’ve compiled below what I’ve seen works the best for parents and students to make their swimming lesson experience the best possible.
Eversport Kids Goggles
Goggles are NOT REQUIRED as long as your child swims with their eyes open UNDERWATER. This is non-negotiable. If they close their eyes underwater they must put on goggles.
You can find theses on Amazon. This is a 2-pack for only $12 and has several color combination options. These goggles work better than most other styles/designs for most of my students. See my goggles blog post for more details. This is Logan, 4-years-old. He screamed and fought me about going under water until I put these goggles on him. Now look at him. He LOVES diving for toys. I call these my “Magic Goggles”! They work for 99% of my students.
Here is the warranty info for the Amazon EverSport Goggles if you order them an want to/need to use the warranty within 1 year of purchase.
Flow Swim Goggle Case
Kids, sun and pool water are all extremely destructive to goggles. Protect your goggles with cases. Otherwise you’ll be buying new goggles every month. These are worth the investment. If your child’s goggles are scratched up you’ll need to buy them new goggles that work. Students MUST be able to see where they are swimming underwater. They can’t do that if their goggles are scratched up.
Hooded Bathrobes
FORGET POOL TOWELS!!!
I’m constantly watching children trip over their towels as they are walking to the car. Parents are struggling to carry their pool bag, maybe managing other children and trying to herd their child(ren) to the car. In this craziness the little student is trying to walk while their towel is falling down and tripping them. These hooded bathrobes are an excellent solution. It keeps your child warm and dries them off. They come in countless colors and patterns. Make your life easier and reduce tears by forgetting the towel and getting a bathrobe instead.
The only problem with these towels is that they don’t come in adult size! :(
Here’s a link to a cute blue shark design.
Here’s a link to a cute pink unicorn design.
These have HOODS which pool towels do NOT have. The benefit of hoods is that it keeps their head warm if it’s breezy out. It also helps dry their hair faster. Towels can’t do that unless you wrap them like a burrito, but you know that won’t last 5 seconds.
Wet Suit
I keep my pool at a reasonably warm temperature all season long. For most kids it’s fine. Some kids are cold even if it’s 120° air temperature and 90° water temperature. For those kids I recommend getting a wet suit. It’s like a coat you can wear in the pool. It can warm up your child by 10° if fitted properly and a thick enough gage. See my blog post on how to buy a wet suit.
Here is a link to one that some of my students wear.
Wet suits are like sponges. They are FULL of water. Once out of the pool they will freeze your child if you leave the wet suit on and wrap them in a towel or bathrobe. Take the wet suit off at a minimum before putting the towel or bathrobe on them to go home. It will be way more comfortable for them. They should be wearing a bathing suit under their wet suit.
UV Shirt / Rash Guard
This is DIFFERENT than a wet suit. UV Shirts / Rash Guards are SPF 50+ and are great for making sure your child does not get burned. They do NOT keep your child warm! It's more effective and faster than applying sunscreen to the arms and torso. This is excellent protection from the sun. Use LESS sunscreen and give your child better protection from the sun’s harmful rays.
These shirts do not last forever. If they start getting baggy then they need to be thrown away. The SPF protection is gone and your child will start burning through the shirt. Please see my blog post on the care instructions for swim suits and SPF shirts in the Swimming News section.
UV shirts can be very cold to wear outside of the pool. I take mine off immediate upon exiting the pool because they are freezing. If possible take it off your child’s UV shirt before putting their towel or bathrobe on. They will be so much warmer and dryer without it outside of the pool.
Ear Plugs
Some students really hate the way the water feels in their ears when floating on their backs. We can use earplugs for that part of the lesson. Learning to float on their backs is a critical skill and it's difficult if a child is fighting me simply because of how the water feels in their ears. It won’t stop me from teaching them to float on their back though.
You can practice with these in the tub at home too!
Water Shoes
Wrangling excited kids and their swimming bag can be a lot. I see a lot of kids running to the car forgetting their shoes in their excitement. Water shoes are helpful because they can go from the deck to the pool. I usually will have students take the shoes off during lessons because they weigh down the feet and interfere with learning. But they are really helpful overall to walk over to the pool, put their feet in the pool and THEN take the water shoes off, unlike flip flops or other shoes that need to be taken off before entering the pool. That increases the potential for a child to burn their feet or leave their shoes somewhere they could forget them. You can put the water shoes on before you leave the house and that’s one less thing to worry about.
I highly recommend students water shoes at public pools, splash pads, water parks and beaches. There are so many things there that a child can step on and cut their foot or sting them. No one wants tears at those places.
Always rinse with fresh water after using and leave out to air dry.
Travel-Sized Paste Toothpaste
Nothing takes the sting out of a bee sting faster than a dab of toothpaste. Stop the crying fast with this little known home remedy.
DRY CLOTHES!
You got your child/ren in their bathing suit and to their lesson on time. Whew! All your problems are over now that lessons are over…or are they?!?! Your child/ren get out of the pool and they are now FREEZING because the wind picked up or the temperature dropped. They are soaking wet, and you don’t have any dry clothes for them to change into. UGH! This happens way too often.
More often than not wearing a wet bathing suit home is too cold in Vegas. Spring and Fall lessons can definitely be warm enough to swim, but freezing outside of a pool and wet. Even in the early and late summer season the mornings or evenings can be chilly if the temperature drops and/or the wind picks up or a storm is about to roll in.
Throw a dry set of clothes into your pool bag. Or just keep a set of clothes in the pool bag for emergency cold days. That will also give you an opportunity to pop into a store on the way home and run a last minute errand you weren’t expecting and wouldn’t be able to run if you have wet, freezing kids in bathing suits.
