Step 14 Push and Float Streamline

Now that your child understands the streamline position, it's time to encourage them to streamline independently and begin creating forward movement through the water. 💦

In Step 14 of our Teaching Kids to Swim series, we introduce the Push and Float — encouraging children to push away from the pool edge and hold their streamline position as they glide through the water.

Push float and glide!

At this stage, we're not worried about kicking or using the arms for propulsion. We want children to discover how a good body position combined with a strong push can create forward movement through the water.

Encourage your child to:

🚀 Push strongly from the pool edge, or off the adult
🙌 Bring their hands together and reach forward
👂 Keep their arms close to their ears
🏊 Make their body long and straight
💦 Keep their face comfortably in the water
⭐ Float and glide for as long as their momentum carries them
⬆️ Recover when they are ready to breathe

The push and float is a great way for children to experience how their body moves through the water independently. A strong, balanced streamline allows them to travel further with less effort.

Keep the distances short to begin with and use lots of repetition. We want children to become confident pushing away, finding their streamline position and maintaining their balance without needing help from a parent.

Don't rush to introduce kicking. Give your child time to master the push, float and glide first. This lays an important foundation for adding propulsion in the next stages of learning to swim.

For families with a home swimming pool or access to a swimming pool, practise this skill regularly and celebrate each little improvement in distance and independence.

▶️ Watch the next video in the playlist as we begin building on the streamline and introducing more forward movement. Follow the complete Teaching Kids to Swim series to see the progression from water familiarisation through to freestyle swimming.

⚠️ Water Safety: Children must always be actively supervised and within close reach of a responsible adult around water. Keep distances appropriate to your child's swimming ability and confidence. These videos support swimming practice and are not a replacement for professional swimming lessons.