Swim time
A swim trip is never just the pool. It is a changing room, slippery floors, strangers close up and rules usually taught in the middle of the noise. The visual support below covers the whole outing, from the entrance to the hairdryer.
♂Boy swimming
A boy with dark hair is swimming freestyle in water with splashes.
♂Boy swimming
A boy with dark hair is swimming freestyle in water with splashes.
♂Boy swimming
A boy with dark hair is swimming freestyle in water with splashes.
♂Boy swimming front crawl
A smiling boy swims front crawl in blue water with splashes around him.
♂Swimmer in a cap and goggles doing front crawl
A smiling swimmer in a white cap and goggles swims front crawl through blue water with foam around them.
♂Swimmer in a yellow cap
A smiling swimmer in a yellow cap and goggles reaches an arm forward in the water with foam around.
♂Child swimming with goggles on the forehead
A laughing child in a light blue swim cap with goggles pushed up on the forehead swims forward with water splashing around.
♀Swimming with a float
A girl swims holding a swim float.
♀Swimming with flippers
A happy girl swims with flippers along a lane rope.
♀Woman swimming
A woman swims freestyle in the water.
♀Swimming with goggles
A girl in goggles swims with her arms stretched forward.
About this visual support
For many children the swim itself is not the hard part – it is everything around it. The changing room is cramped and loud, clothes get wet before anyone is even in the water, the depth of the pool is hard to read from the side, and a lifeguard calls out rules across the hall without looking your way. When that many impressions arrive at once, it is easy to lose footing long before the first dip.
Visual support makes the whole outing make sense by drawing it ahead of time. Here is the entrance, here are the coat hooks, here is the locker, here is the walk past the showers before the pool. With each part on its own card, the trip stops being one big jump and becomes a series of clear steps. It also makes the rules easier to keep, because they attach to a place rather than to a stranger's voice.
One practical tip: place the card for shower before pool in the sequence with a clear arrow, so it does not become a battle in the middle of the hall. To plan the whole outing – from the bag at home to the snack afterwards – build it in Routined so none of the moments arrive as a surprise on the way.
Use this image in a schedule
Build your own visual schedule with this image and download it as a print-ready PDF. Completely free.
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Take the visual supports with you
In Routined you build schedules from these pictures, add timers and voice instructions, and your child follows the day on their own.
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