7 Year Old Swimming Birthday Party

[ThatCoralHedgehog]

My son desperately wants a swimming party for his birthday this year. He is a strong swimmer but I’m not so sure his friends are. Either way because of the age of the children it would need to be 1 adult to every 2 children under 8.
There would be lifeguards present from the leisure centre too.

My thoughts were to do this in the smaller, shallower pool so the majority if not all kids would be able to stand up and just have floats and toys.

I’m worried if I plan something like this the uptake won’t be very good from his friends and their parents, especially if they have to get in to help supervise.

Would you allow your child to attend a swimming party at 6/7 years old and would you be prepared to get in to supervise? Or do you think it’s best to convince him to do something else and how would you manage the disappointment?

No no no. My son went to swimming party. I was hyperventilating with anxiety. Never again. Choose another theme. He was6, it was in Italy, there were no safety regs.

We did one but not at the leisure centre. We did it with an independent swim teacher who did lessons using primary school pools so the kids could stand up in the pool. No adults had to get in and the instructor brought loads of floats and toys and played games with them. Would that work?
We could then also use the school hall for food after.

No. My older two had swimming parties at 10, since Covid that even seems too young

That sounds like a good idea. Do you mind me asking what area this was in? We’re in Greater Manchester.

Dont do until until the kids are 8. For a winter born birthday this means 9th birthday so there are no 7 year olds.

Far away in Surrey I’m afraid.

We did a swimming party when my child was 11. By 11 their was only one friend who didn't come due to being scared in the water. The swimming ability varied, but they were all happy in the water and confident in their depth. We invited 8 kids, 6 came. They were all kids that had been in his class since reception so we knew them fairly well. I would honestly suggest that you wait for a few years till the children are bigger and more likely to be confident in the water. We had 3 adults in the water for 6 kids, and were planning on 4 adults for 8 kids. No way would I be doing it with kids who might not touch the bottom all the time.

Yes it's fine to ask other adults to help, but no way can you just expect all the parents to swim. There are many reasons an adult might not swim. BEFORE you invite any children, you secure enough helpers to supervise the kids. We asked the mum of my son's best friend since reception. We know her well and she was happy to come, we paid for her meal (Pizza Express) as a thank you!

No and no.
My child wouldn't attend. No due to my health I wouldn't get in to supervise.

We had a swimming party for my son at a swimming theme park thing. We asked parents to get on even though it was about knee deep, had a lifeguard and we had exclusive use. Funnily enough all the Dads got in 😂

If you do decide to do it I think you need to provide all the adult assistance and you will need to write a very detailed description of the party when sending out invites if you want people to be willing for their DC to come.

I let my DC go to a pool party when they were 5 but:

1. it was a private pool which I knew well as my DC had lessons there
2. my DC was confident in the water and could swim (not great but could)
3. I knew and trusted the parents
4. I knew in advance how many adults would be in the water
5. I was on the side watching my child only and would have been happy to jump in if I felt it was necessary.
6. I knew that all the other DC in attendance had a similar swimming ability to my child and all had a parent who was staying and who would also focus totally on their child and jump in if necessary.

I would not have felt so confident at a public pool. I'd also say that it wasn't the greatest of parties simply because the DC were not great swimmers and struggled to entertain themselves in the water. I think your son runs the risk of being disappointed if his friends are not confident and competent.

In your situation I would delay a swimming party for at least another year and find a private pool that you can host it at.

Sounds like a real hassle, and you’d probably have to have someone supervising them getting changed, hair dried etc. Surely there are better ideas where kids don’t need to be able to swim to join in with - lots of kids that age will only have started swimming lessons quite recently. There is no way I would be volunteering to get in the pool with them either, so if that was necessary then I would decline. Sounds like an idea for him and his friends are much older.

Sounds like a massive pain. Don't do it. And as a parent, I cannot think of anything worse than having to spend my Saturday afternoon in a pool with a bunch of 7 year olds who may or may not swim.

Surely having so many parents in the water will kill all the fun? Maybe point this out to him.

Went to one a few days ago for a 6 year olds birthday. It was good actually. A parent had to go in with each child but they just had the training pool so lots of floats, balls and splashing about. I was freezing after an hour but then we all got changed, went to one of the leisure centre studios for some food and cake for 40 mins and that was it. No need for any tiresome party games. Kids loved it.