The Leisure Experts highlights the importance of purposeful play during RLSS Drowning Prevention Week

Drowning prevention is often associated with water safety messages, supervision, rescue skills and formal swimming development. All of these are essential. However, The Leisure Experts believes that purposeful, child-led play also has an important and sometimes underestimated place within high-quality swimming education.

For children, water is unpredictable. It moves. It splashes. It changes how the body feels, balances and responds. Real water environments do not always behave in a neat, controlled or expected way. This is why children need opportunities to explore, move, recover, problem-solve and build confidence in ways that feel natural, meaningful and engaging.

Purposeful play gives children the opportunity to rehearse those experiences in a safe and supported environment.

When a child tumbles, turns, spins, reaches for a toy, loses balance, finds a float, changes direction or recovers from an unexpected position, they are doing far more than simply playing. They are learning how their body works in water. They are discovering how to regain control. They are developing the ability to stay calm, adapt and make decisions.

That is drowning prevention in action.

Joni Harding, Director of The Leisure Experts, said:

“Play is not just a reward at the end of a lesson. It is not a time-filler, and it is not a break from learning. When it is used well, purposeful play is learning.

“When a child is given the chance to explore water through play, they are building aquatic confidence, awareness and capability. They are rehearsing what to do when things do not go exactly to plan, and that matters deeply when we talk about drowning prevention.”

The Leisure Experts promotes an approach to swimming education that is safe, inclusive, progressive and child-centred. Within this approach, play is not passive. It is intentionally designed, carefully observed and skilfully guided by teachers who understand what children are learning through movement, exploration and interaction.

A lesson does not always need to look like a rigid drill sequence to be effective. Some of the most meaningful learning happens when a child is fully engaged, fully present and confidently exploring the water around them.

Through purposeful play, children can develop essential aquatic skills including floatation, balance, rotation, submersion, propulsion, aquatic breathing, decision-making and emotional regulation. These skills all contribute to a child’s ability to respond more effectively in and around water.

Joni continued:

“As swimming teachers, we have a responsibility to create learning environments where children are not just following instructions, but truly understanding the water. Purposeful play allows children to connect movement, confidence and decision-making in a way that feels natural to them.

“It is not about letting children do anything without structure. It is about skilled teachers knowing how to use curiosity, imagination and exploration to develop safer, more capable swimmers.”

During RLSS Drowning Prevention Week, The Leisure Experts is calling on the sector to recognise purposeful play as a valuable part of drowning prevention education. This does not replace formal water safety teaching, supervision or structured skill development. Instead, it strengthens them by helping children build the confidence, adaptability and understanding they need in real water situations.

The organisation is encouraging swimming teachers and providers to reflect on how play is currently used within their lessons and whether children are being given enough opportunity to explore water in a way that is active, meaningful and purposeful.

Joni added:

“We want children to enjoy the water, but we also want them to respect it, understand it and feel confident in how they respond to it. Purposeful play helps build that relationship.

“When children play freely and safely in water, they learn how to fall, float, recover, move, think and stay calm. That is not incidental to drowning prevention. That is the point.”

The Leisure Experts believes that conversations around drowning prevention must continue beyond one awareness week. By supporting teachers with the knowledge, confidence and creativity to use purposeful play effectively, the sector can help more children develop the skills, understanding and Water Wisdom they need to be safer in and around water.

As Drowning Prevention Week reminds families, teachers and communities of the importance of water safety, The Leisure Experts is proud to champion an approach that places children, confidence and meaningful learning at the heart of swimming education.