I really hope I'm not the only one who sang the Goldfish song when reading the title of this post.
It is really amazing how much sensory input a few hours at the pool can have.
We recently went to a local pool with our children for an afternoon of fun. Our children both love and hate public pools and most of the time it depends how busy the pool is.
When we took our children to the pool we ended up leaving after about an hour and a half because Baby Boy was completely exhausted. Usually we are having to drag Baby Boy away from the pool but after all the simulation at the pool he was asking to go home. Even before we got to the pool Artist was asking if the pool was going to be busy as she does not like the simulation from the pool.
Both of our younger children both seekers and avoiders which can make an activity both positive and negative. For the pool we have noticed the following for sensory input for out children:
Positive input:
Tips for having an easy time at the pool
It is really amazing how much sensory input a few hours at the pool can have.
We recently went to a local pool with our children for an afternoon of fun. Our children both love and hate public pools and most of the time it depends how busy the pool is.
When we took our children to the pool we ended up leaving after about an hour and a half because Baby Boy was completely exhausted. Usually we are having to drag Baby Boy away from the pool but after all the simulation at the pool he was asking to go home. Even before we got to the pool Artist was asking if the pool was going to be busy as she does not like the simulation from the pool.
Both of our younger children both seekers and avoiders which can make an activity both positive and negative. For the pool we have noticed the following for sensory input for out children:
Positive input:
- Deep pressure from the water
- Deep pressure from swim shirt
- Spinning as you go down the water slide
Negative input:
- Loud noise from water features
- Loud crowds
- Visual simulation from all the people in the pool, and water toys
Tips for having an easy time at the pool
- Go to the pool during quiet times, start with hotel pools when there is less people at the pool.
- Use swim shirts for deep pressure and also to help with the feeling of the water on your child's body.
- Go in the pool with your child, being there with your child can help if they are anxious about the pool.
- Go to an outside pool, I find my children enjoy outside pools more, I believe that it is because it is in an open area and the sounds don't echo back.
- Baby Boy loves the water slide and you climb those stairs all day long if you let him, so we let him go down the water slide as much as he likes, we try to take turns going with him as walking up those stairs can be hard work after awhile. So if there is something at the pool let your child enjoy that, for some it might just be relaxing in the lazy river, when we have gone to bigger hotels with nice big lazy rivers Artist with get on a water tube and just float around.
- Find a quieter area at the pool, most of the time the hot tubs are tucked away in a corner and are a great place to go to get some down time.
If you have read previous posts you know that we do take a family road trip every year, when selecting hotels we do try to find ones with pools that also have a water slide. Usually during the summer months there are not many people using indoor pools at the hotels so it's pretty quiet and makes for a great way for the children to calm down and also wear off the last of their energy before bed.