As promised, my Christmas gift guide this year is going to be highly unconventional, especially when it comes to gifts for children.
I support learning through play as an educator and Emma does get toys at Christmas but I do think that our children need to develop other skills in parallel: confidence is definitely one of them!
Emma was send this month not one but two brilliant swimming aids: an Aqua Sphere pair of goggles and a SwimFit, the brilliant floating device everyone is talking about!
We did put them to test at the pool and we are writing this review to tell you why they would make brilliant Christmas gifts!
The Aqua Sphere goggles were brought to my attention in a local children’s magazine. I did approach the PR in charge with the promotion campaign within the UK and they happily agreed to send Emma a Vista Junior Clear Lens pair.
What makes Aqua Sphere different from other goggles, you ask?
Like all Aqua Sphere’s goggles, the Vista Junior has curved lenses for 180 degree vision (much wider than traditional flat lens goggles) and the Softeril seal, which is really comfortable on the face. The EZ Adjust side buckles let you adjust the fit whilst the goggles are on the face – making them really easy and fast to fit.
No fiddly on-off! We were able to testify to that yesterday. In the big pool where Emma and I were puddling about we witnessed a grandfather using about half of his swimming time with the grandchildren adjusting his granddaughter’s goggles. Since Emma was having a splash about, she kindly agreed to let the little girl use the Aqua Sphere goggles. They finished their swimming lesson with ZERO fiddling times and the little girl was very excited to have used them and asked her grandpa to buy her a pair as well!
The goggles are latex free,offer 100% UV protection and according to Emma and the other little girl who put them to the test yesterday, these are the best goggles on the market for children aged 6 – 12!!
The Vista Junior goggle by Aqua Sphere retails at £19.99.
As much as she loved her goggles, Emma couldn’t have done without her SwimFin yesterday!
She had swimming lessons this summer with her daddy in the sea but since she hadn’t been in the water for a number of weeks, her water confidence had almost disappeared and the SwimFin came in really handy!
How does the swim fin do and how does it work?
As the name says it, the Swim Fin is a device that pretty much looks like a shark fin. It gets attached on the back of the child by two sturdy straps and works as a floating device, with the very important difference that it leaves the child’s hands free and allows them to concentrate on and enjoy fully the swimming experience.
Emma had no problem jumping into the big pool, knowing that her body will not submerge fully. She did get her water confidence back almost immediately and by the end of our time at the pool, she was trying to remember abut breathing and putting her head under the water.
I have attached the video produced by SwimFin Australia below so you can get a better idea of how it works:
The SwimFin comes in seven attractive colours, to suit both boys’ and girls’ preferences and retails for £21.99 on the UK website.
The lovely SwinFin team are offering our readers the chance to win one SwinFin of their choice, just in time for Christmas! Simply follow the Gleam link to enter the giveaway!
Mama's Haven 
I’ve been waiting for this review of the Swim Fin since u first mentioned it – looks great!
I’ve always liked the look of the Swimfin. Such a simple but clever idea. X
I think we are past the swim fin stage, but I like the sound of the aqua goggles – we always struggle to get a good fit.
The swim fin is such a cool idea! It looks like something fun too which is always great for kids. Decent goggles are invaluable, I always try to get good ones, makes such a difference to comfort and visibility.
The swim fin looks absolutely brilliant. In my day it was a bit of rubber you tied around your middle and you never did quite float properly.
We’ve been sent the swim fin to try and my boy loves it. I haven’t heard of the goggles before they look great x
I am desperate to take my girls swimming! I will most certainly look into all of these! I love the shark fin! Great idea. Xx
Those goggles sound amazing. It’s great that they provide UV protection too.
Those goggles sound great, I love that they have UV protection for the eyes.
I love the idea of the Swim Fin, it looks so much fun x
I love this, anything that helps children learn a life skill is high on my list 🙂
Swim fin looks cool and seems like a great idea for little ones – as you say, it doesn’t get in the way. Wish I’d known about this when my son was younger!
The swim fins look amazing – such a cute way to help with swimming. x
The swim fin really does look cool! my niece would absolutely love it! and as you said above, it leave your arms free to concentrate on movements! oh and i love the goggles, will definitely mention them to my sister for my niece:) xxx
I love the look of the swimfin, such a fun idea!
It was a priority of mine that both my children could swim so these products would have been great for me a few years ago! Mind you, I’d quite enjoy wearing a Swimfin now… just to do the shark thing in the pool!
I love the look of the swim fin. My son is starting lessons after Christmas.
What a great swimmers dream gift guide and we absolutely LOVE our swimfins! #Love2Blog
Oh those goggles look fab! My older children always had an issue with theirs. Kaz x
Our swimming baths doesnt allow swim fins!
We have gone through so many goggles with eliza, she just doesn’t seem to get on with any. Would like to give these a go and Sebby has a swimfin – they are fab!
A great review. The swim fin is such a great idea!
They look fab – a helpful aid and such fun too!
These look great! My son asks for goggles every year, and we usually get him a cheap pair that end up not working well. I’d love to try a quality brand. Great gift idea!
What a great gift idea! My son asks for goggles every year, and we usually end up with a cheap pair that doesn’t last. I would love to try a quality brand!
How brilliant are these swimming items which they’d be available when I was a child
We love Swimfins, I think they are brilliant at getting kids in to the right positions for skiing.
We love Swimfins, I think they are brilliant at getting kids in to the right positions for swimming.
The Swimfin sounds great and a superb way of helping children learn to swim. POD has just started trying to swim albeit just with us. She freaked out in the pool the other day but we’re hoping if we go regularly she’ll fair better! She was fine in the end and had a ball 🙂
Brilliant products – I’m off to find some of those goggles now, wish I’d known about them years ago!!
Think they look great and able to move arms around freely
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