This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Stearns Puddle Jumpers®. All opinions are 100% mine.
After a failed trip to the Waterpark of America this Winter we realized that our kids were all afraid of the water. We knew we needed to do something to change this before Summer came. We enlisted the help of my sister who is a lifeguard and has given swimming lessons. We began visiting the pool once a week for private swim lessons with Auntie. I cannot believe how far my kids have come and I am so excited for them! They have conquered their fear of the water and they are looking forward to swimming at the cabin this Summer! Victory!
When we began our kids were very attached to cumbersome life jackets that they didn’t want to take off. We needed them to experience mobility in the water so they could get used to the motions of paddling their arms and legs without the restrictions of traditional life jackets. The Stearns Puddle Jumper has long been a favorite of ours for the mobility it offers our kids and while we were used to using it primarily for safety on the lakeshore, we found it also worked great for swimming in the pool too! It kept Danika up above water while she learned the different paddles and kicks.
The Stearns Puddle Jumper even gave her confidence to jump in the pool without someone there to catch her. She felt a newfound freedom in the water while still feeling safe and secure. This built her confidence until she was able to learn to swim without any flotation devices! The Stearns Puddle Jumper will definitely be our go to flotation device all Summer long. It is perfect for kids playing on the beach, near water or in the pool. It keeps them safe while still offering freedom of motion. For more info (and where to buy) these awesome kids flotation devices check out StearnsFlotation.com.
As part of our swimming lessons I created these DIY Water Bomb Flowers to encourage the kids to swim across the pool. It gave them something to swim towards and distracted them from the task of swimming across the pool and instead gave them a goal to reach. Plus once the game was over they could launch them at their siblings and soak them!
To make these sponge water bombs you’ll need four standard sponges (the soft ones, no scrubbies!), hair ties or rubber bands and kitchen shears or sharp scissors.
You will cut each sponge into four strips.
You can cut them the long way or the short way depending on what size you want your flowers to be. I did a mix of both so we had big and small flowers.
Then once you’ve cut up all your sponges, grab six sponge strips and bundle them together, securing them in the center with a rubber band or hair tie.
Then fluff up your sponges to create the flower look. To do this just pull each sponge strip in a different direction.
Now you are ready to play! These float in the water and they also soak up water so they soak whoever you toss them at!
Begin by tossing your flower water bombs into the pool, throwing them all around the water.
Make sure to spread them out nicely in the water.
Then your little swimmer can swim around collecting their flower water bombs until they have a bouquet of flower water bombs! This encourages them to swim around the pool and it builds confidence in their own swimming skills!
What are your favorite pool games?
How funny we just bought sponges to make these too! Im glad you like them hopefully my boys will too!
Your boys will love them! Water fights!!
What a cool idea. Tons of fun for the kids 🙂
As a young girl I was a fish- I loved to dive for bobbers and trinkets, until a really bad inner ear infection. It’s great that you’ve found such fun ways to increase confidence in water.
Oh that doesn’t sound fun to have an inner ear infection! You must have spent a LOT of time in the water! I had swimmer’s ear as a child and that was really painful as well. I was a fish too 🙂
That’s really great! These are just as good as store bought toys, and they’re so much cheaper. Great idea!
I often find the DIY toys to be so much more fun than store bought toys!
This is such a great idea. Why pay for something that you can make yourself?!
I couldn’t agree more! DIY is great!
Love this idea! My son would love these for pool time. I’m going to head to the dollar store and get some sponges just so I can make some.
Such a great, inexpensive toy!
We love swimming during the summertime! Such a fun idea to bring to the pool!
I love this! I have always enjoyed diving for toys in the pool! As an adult, my favorite game is “who can splash less”.
That sounds like my favorite game too lol.
Oh these are wonderful. I love this idea. My kids love swim toys. Thanks so much for sharing.
You’re welcome Shauna! Thanks for stopping by!
What a fun idea. I am going to make these for the kids. They are always trying to come up with new pool games.
My kids have already come up with a bunch of other games they play with these. They are so fun!
This is a great alternative to water balloons! I will have to make some for my kids.
Yes, they definitely are a great alternative to water balloons!
This looks like a fun pool game idea and would be especially awesome as a water balloon substitute. No messy cleanup of balloon pieces is just an added bonus.
Yes, these are perfect for a water fight with no garbage in the yard afterwards!
What a great way to add some fun to pool time. You could make a lot of them for a low cost too!
Yes, they are such an inexpensive pool toy!
Water bombs sound like alot of fun! I love how inexpenisve they are!
Yes, such a quick and cheap DIY project!
My kids LOVE their puddle jumpers and so do I! I need to make some of these water bombs this summer!
We love the puddle jumpers too! So nice that they can still move and play while being safe.
This is such a simple and fun idea. We just moved into a condo with a pool. I will have to remember to do this for the kids.
Oh how nice! I bet your kids will be swimming a lot! Check out the Puddle Jumpers to if they don’t know how to swim yet. They are great for the pool!
This is a fantastic game to play in the pool. I made these last year and the kids loved it.
Aren’t they fun? The kids love them!
These are cute. We have a small pool that tthe girls would love to play with these in
My kiddos have been playing with them every time we go to the pool! They keep coming up with new games with them too!
those are too cute,,the grandkids like the diving toys and noodles