Teaching Kids to Enter and Exit the Water Safely

Ask a child what they did at swimming and you will hear about freestyle, or bubbles, or letting go of the noodle. Nobody comes home thrilled about getting in and getting out. Yet those are the moments where a child ends up in the water before anyone agreed they were, or hauls themselves out on tired arms while the adults fold towels. Good teachers treat entry and exit with the same patience as a stroke.

Why teachers treat this as a skill

A stroke is what a child does once everything has gone to plan. Entry and exit are the joins. Entry is also where a teacher settles who is in charge: nobody gets in until an adult gives the word.

The sequence a good teacher builds

Watch a well-run beginner class and the order rarely changes. It is taught in shallow water, no deeper than the child's waist.

• Sit on the edge first. Bottom on the tiles, both hands to one side of the body, feet dangling. Nothing happens yet.
• Feet in. The child feels the temperature and what is under them.
• Find the way out before getting in. Where is the nearest step, ladder or low edge? Teachers make a child point to it.
• Turn towards the wall and slide in. Body weight on the hands, lower the body into the water, then feel for the bottom with the feet. Hands to one side are what make the turn possible.
• Get straight back out. In and out is one loop, not two unrelated events.

Our guide to treading water and self-rescue skills covers what a child falls back on once things have gone wrong.

Why the slide-in faces the wall

The slide-in looks fussy until you watch it work. Facing the wall keeps a hand on the edge, so the child arrives holding on and one push from being back out. Feeling for the bottom with the feet is the other half of it, and why this is the entry for water of uncertain depth. The cheerful hop lands a child facing open water with their back to the wall, needing to turn and find the edge first.

Sitting and kneeling entries at the edge belong here rather than in a diving lesson: they go in feet first and the child keeps hold of the wall throughout. Headfirst entries are a separate skill with their own readiness markers and depth rules, including the sitting and kneeling dives instructors use to introduce one, and our guide on teaching kids to dive safely covers those.

Jumping in, and what has to be true first

Children love jumping in, and there is no reason to stamp that out. It is safe under conditions, though, and they do not bend:

• An adult has checked the depth that day, at that spot.
• An adult is in the water, close and ready to receive the child.
• One child at a time, feet first.
• Never where someone else is, has just gone in, or might surface.
• The child waits for the word before their feet leave the tiles.

Drill the waiting: a child who jumps only on cue is far easier to keep safe at a party or a holiday pool.

Checking the depth usually stays an adult job

"Check the depth" is fine advice for grown-ups and a poor rule to hang a young child's safety on. Water flattens what sits beneath it, and a child's sense of deep is set by their own height. Make it explicit instead: you do not check the depth, you ask me, every time, at every pool.

Getting out is harder than it looks

Climbing out asks a small child for short arms, wet hands and real upper body strength, usually when they have least left. Practise it tired as well as fresh.

On a ladder, the usual coaching is to face it, keep both hands on the rails and take one foot at a time, without rushing the last step onto wet tiles. That is common practice rather than a published standard. At the edge, a cue many Australian teachers use is "elbow, elbow, knee, knee". Forearms flat on the deck, press up until the chest and tummy are over the edge, bring a knee through, then step away from the water. Kids tend to try it with a jump and a grab, run out of arms halfway and slide back in. Slowing it down works better than more effort.

What a climb-out is worth, and what it is not

A child who can get themselves out has one more option than a child who cannot. It does not make them safe. Trouble in the water is quiet and quick, as our guide on what drowning actually looks like sets out, and a tired or frightened child may never get near the edge. Active supervision, within arm's reach of a young or weak swimmer, stays exactly where it was.

Waiting for the word is a rule too, and rules fail. Barriers do the work supervision cannot: check that pool gates self-close and self-latch, at home and anywhere you visit, as our guide to backyard pool safety and fencing sets out.

Water that is not a pool

Away from a pool the reference points disappear. Depth changes within a step, and what lies under the surface is unknown until someone stands on it. There is often no edge to slide from and no easy way out at all. So the habits shift: walk in feet first and gradually rather than jumping, agree where everyone is getting out before anyone gets in, and keep properly fitted lifejackets, Level 100 or higher, on younger children and weaker swimmers the whole time. Our guide to river, dam and lake safety goes through the hazards in detail.

Ask how your school teaches it

A school that can describe its entry progression, and ends lessons by having children climb out themselves, tells you something about the rest of its teaching. Clothed swimming lessons rehearse falling in dressed. Compare programs across the directory of swim schools, or browse swim schools in Australia.

Frequently asked questions

Why do swim teachers make kids slide in facing the wall?

Because it keeps a hand on the edge for the whole entry. A child who slides in on their tummy arrives holding on, facing the wall, and in a position to climb straight back out.

At what age can a child climb out of a pool by themselves?

No age settles it. A climb-out depends on arm strength, height and practice more than on birthdays, and on the pool: a child who hauls out easily at a low edge may not manage a high one. Many manage a ladder long before an unassisted climb. Test it rather than assume it, practise it fresh and tired, and keep supervising to the level that child and that pool call for. Getting out is a skill your child has on a good day, not a reason to stop watching.

Is it safe to let my child jump into a pool?

Not on its own, no. Jumping in is safe only when an adult has checked the depth at that spot that day, an adult is in the water ready to receive them, they go one at a time and feet first, and nobody is in the landing area. Take any of those away and it stops being safe.

Should my child be the one to check the water depth?

No. Checking depth stays an adult job at any age you would still be supervising, because water distorts how deep it looks and young children judge depth against their own height. Teach them to ask you instead. Older children learning headfirst entries do learn to read depth markers, but an adult confirms it before anyone goes in.

Does being able to climb out of the pool mean my child is safe?

No. It means one more option if something goes wrong, but a child in difficulty may never reach the edge, and trouble in the water is usually quiet and fast. A confident climb-out changes nothing about supervision: an adult still needs to be watching, undistracted, and within arm's reach of a young or weak swimmer.