We are a culture that thrives on being able to spend time at play on our beaches and waterways, but we still need help when it comes to staying safe. Entering the water safely at an early age is a great way to begin, and the benefits of 'baby-friendly' swimming classes are unique, uplifting and contribute to the positive development of the whole child.

Parents often withdraw their kids from swimming classes in winter as a ‘precautionary measure’ each year as the temperature drops. When they return to swimming later in the year, not only have they missed out on the many benefits of swimming, they find that their kids still caught all the colds that went around. Check out these tips and keep your kids swimming throughout winter.

There are many benefits of introducing your child to swimming whilst they're still a baby, including improved physical development as well as social development – not to mention fun! However, the benefit that is overlooked most often is that of cognition or mental benefits which are incredibly important for the development of children as a whole.

AUCKLAND, HAMILTON, HAVELOCK NORTH & PALMERSTON NORTH: At Hilton Brown Swimming our aim is simple – to provide a fun, safe and caring environment for children to learn to swim. Working with proven teaching methods that have been continuously fine-tuned since the school started in 1973, our highly-trained instructors aim to ensure a successful and enjoyable learning experience for everyone.

Water play can be a great source of fun and exercise for the whole family, but it can also be dangerous for kids if the proper water safety precautions are not taken. The good news is though there are many ways to keep children safe in and around water. Check out these helpful tips.

Water is an essential part of Kiwis identity and many under 5's grow up spending their holidays at the beach, fishing off the rocks, swimming in a pool or learning how to drive a boat. Yet according to Safekids Aotearoa, drowning is the leading cause of injury-related death among children between 1 and 4 years old.

It’s officially summer and water safety is more important than ever as you spend your days at the beach or by the pool. It's not only important to actively supervise young children in and around water, but to be conscious of potential safety hazards too. These 5 tips will make an enormous difference to your family’s water safety over the holiday period and could even save someone's life.

Going to the beach this summer? A YMCA Auckland Lifeguard shares 7 lifesaving tips that could make the difference to your family’s lives this season.

**FEATURED** Do you want to teach your kids to swim and SAVE 20% OFF your SplashSave Parents Pack? Our SplashSave water safety programme has been put together with this mission in mind. A specially designed water safety programme for parents with young kids aged 0 – 7 years old, so they can take the lead when it comes to swimming and water safety education.

Swimming is an essential life skill and building water confidence is the first step when it comes to teaching your kids to swim. Water confidence is all about how comfortable your kids are in water. As a parent you can play a huge role in developing this confidence and teach them core water safety skills from an early age.

A key element in helping young kids to develop their water confidence, is to teach them about submersion and how to feel comfortable putting their head underwater. Young kids can sometimes be afraid to submerge their head fully underwater, but as a parent you can play a huge role in teaching your kids this core swimming skill from an early age.

Not only does teaching your kids how to float provide them with a strong foundation for learning to swim, it’s also one of the most important core water safety skills they can learn from an early age.