For children aged 3 months - 36 months (3 years) and their parent/caregiver in a group setting. The program has a water safety and life-safety skill focus taught in a positive, loving way.
StarBabies provides instruction to the adult who accompanies a child. The goal is to help equip the parent or caregiver with methods to develop aquatic readiness and water safety habits that will result in self-rescue and swimming skills when the child is developmentally ready.
This course does not teach children of this age to become accomplished swimmers or guarantee survival skills in the water - no program can make that claim. It does use loving encouragement provided by a trusted parent or caregiver to help guide the child toward skill development. The areas of instruction include:
- Entries and holds
- Body positions
- Submersions using targets and launches
- Rolling to the back to rest and breathe
- Forward movement (swim-roll-swim)
The water safety messages include:
- Asking for permission before entering the water and the importance of adult supervision
- The selection and use of appropriate lifejackets
- The use of flotation for an emergency assist
- Recreational water illness (RWI) prevention
- Introduction to rescue breathing and CPR