Bring on the Smiles with the magical
Turtle Tots Journey
From their very first dip, your little one will be off on a magical, watery adventure. They’ll learn essential water safety and early swimming skills while making new friends, building bonds and making memories that will last a lifetime.
Dive into our fun and award-winning baby, toddler, and preschool swimming journey where we’ll guide your child toward a lifelong love of the water.
Let's take your child on an amazing aquatic adventure
At Turtle Tots, we believe in a gentle, child-led approach to swimming. Our award-winning programme for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers is designed to do more than just teach strokes, it’s about building a lifelong love for the water. We focus on teaching essential, life-saving skills and basic swimming techniques in a way that’s supportive and fun for every child.
Our lessons are structured but flexible, naturally progressing with your child’s age and ability. With the help of Turtle and their sea creature friends, your little one will dive into a world of games and songs, learning key skills like “Holding On”, “Kick and Glide”, and “Horsey Horsey”, all while building water confidence and learning to be safe in and around the water.
Ready to start your unforgettable journey together? Keep reading to discover why our unique programme creates memories that will last a lifetime.
The Turtle Tots Swimming Programme
You can embark on an aquatic adventure with your little one anytime from three months of age. Our lessons are flexible and designed to support your child as they learn at a pace that is right for them.
From 3 to 17 months old, babies can progress through our Turtle, Seahorse, Dolphin, and Octopus levels as we focus on communication, water safety, developing strength and coordination, and having lots of fun together. Our Sea Lion and Penguin levels are perfect for active toddlers aged 18 months to 3 years, where we introduce more fun and games to practice early swimming technique and water safety skills. For super splashy preschoolers, aged 3 ½ to 5 years, our Squid, Stingray and Shark levels are designed to build confidence and independence in the water. Once your child has completed our baby, toddler, and preschool swimming programme, they’ll be all set move on to their local Swim Ireland or STA swimming lessons!
To find the perfect lesson level for your child, check out our handy chart below. If you need help choosing, CLICK HERE to reach out to our office.
The Turtle Tots Swimming Programme
Turtle Swimming Lessons: 3 to 8 month olds
Welcome to Turtle, the first exciting level of your Turtle Tots adventure! This is where we begin to understand your baby’s unique way of communicating, using it to guide everything from gentle holds to essential water safety. This initial stage is all about feeling relaxed and comfortable in the water, building a deep bond and a sense of trust between you and your child, learn how to swim and float together, and creating unforgettable moments with your little one.
Seahorse Swimming Lessons: 6 to 11 month olds
Seahorse level brings toys and giggles! We’ll pick up the pace a little, introducing new challenges that will let your baby show off their developing strength, coordination, and balance. This is where they’ll get to splash in from the poolside all by themselves, practice essential water safety skills, and even go for short swims under the water when they’re ready. You’ll also learn a new hold to help you swim together as a team.
Dolphin Swimming Lessons: 10 to 15 month olds
Building on all those amazing skills you’ve already learned, Dolphin level is all about watching your little one become a master of the water! They’ll learn how to move independently by kicking, with a little help from fun flotation aids. We’ll also introduce the big play raft, a fantastic platform for them to explore and build confidence. Water safety and holding on remain a key focus, and you’ll find that swimming together becomes even more energetic and exciting for both of you!
Octopus Swimming Lessons: 14 to 17 month olds
Octopus level is where the real fun begins as your little one learns to swim on their own with a woggle, both on their fronts and backs! Get ready for woggle “horses” a super fun way to practice balancing in the water and get a feel for treading water. We’ll also introduce new safety skills, building on everything they’ve already learned by linking them together into fun sequences. Discover exciting new ways to swim together, including some amazing underwater adventures!
Sea Lion Swimming Lessons: 18 months + and 2 year olds
Jumping in is a big new skill in Sea Lion level, and it’s something most toddlers absolutely love. We teach this skill with a careful, structured approach, maximising both the fun and the safety elements. This is your toddler’s time to shine, as their amazing personality and endless enthusiasm take over and they challenge themselves to do things with less support from you.
Penguin Swimming Lessons: 2.5 years + and 3 year olds
Penguin level is all about practice and perfecting. Repetition is essential for helping toddlers refine their movements and skills. We’ll focus on developing key swimming abilities like body position, breathing, and coordinated leg and arm movements, all through fun and playful, child-led activities. As your little one learns more about their capabilities and limits, we’ll continue to keep a strong focus on water safety.
Squid Swimming Lessons: 3.5 years + and 4 year olds
Body position, leg and arm action, and breathing – Squid level will see your child continue to develop their key swimming skills. Toddlers learn best through playful exploration, so our teaching remains flexible and responsive to the needs of each child in the group. We know that confidence and ability can change from week to week. We are always ready to adapt and respond to what each toddler needs.
Stingray Swimming Lessons: 3 and 4 year olds
As children’s brilliant imaginations and language skills blossom, so does the opportunity for even more games and creativity in the water! In Stingray level, the focus shifts from the teacher to the little swimmer as they can now follow directions, with their adult acting as the trusted assistant. This is the age where kids often start swimming more independently, ditching the buoyancy aids and getting ready for some early stroke development and technique practice. Stingray is not suitable for beginner student enrolment. If you are transferring from another swim school and think this might be the right level for you, please contact us.
Shark Swimming Lessons: 4 and 5 year olds
We’re getting ready to bridge the gap between our preschool swimming lessons and starting new lessons at your chosen swim academy! In our fun and engaging Shark level, your child will be preparing for the next step on their swimming journey. You’ll see them becoming more independent in the water, with improving body position and the beginnings of recognisable swimming strokes. It’s an exciting time as they build confidence and skill, paving the way for a lifetime of swimming success! Shark is not suitable for beginner student enrolment. If you are transferring from another swim school and think this might be the right level for you, please contact us.
Autism Swim Lessons
Smaller group swimming lessons for children with Autism aged between 3 and 6 years. Our goal is to provide a safe and non-judgmental environment, and to bring children forward on their swimming journey and help them get ready to join group swimming lessons for older kids.
Reviews
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Why do I need to wait until my baby is 3 months of age to start Turtle Tots swimming lessons?
Whilst babies can go swimming from birth, in the early months it needs to be in a very warm pool (at least 32c) and ideally not for longer than 15 minutes. Newborn babies have not yet developed enough to self-regulate their body temperature and will find 30 minutes at 30c (our average pool temperature) overly tiring and perhaps even stressful.
Plus, we think babies benefit that little bit more from the skills we teach when we wait that little bit longer too 🙂
Does my child have to start at Turtle (3-8 months) or Sea Lion (18 months - 2.5 years)?
No, children new to lessons are most welcome to start with Turtle Tots in any of the levels you see available for booking on this site. The age guide next to the level is our only criteria for children new to swimming lessons, or returning after a break of 6 months or more. Age guides are based on physical development milestones and prior learning of other enrolled students.
For premature children, please use their adjusted age to calculate the right level.
If you have attended lessons recently with another provider, please let us know and we may advise a different entry point for your family.
For our toddler and preschool levels, each level is made up of 2 or 3 parts (for example, Sea Lion 1, 2, and 3). We recommend starting with Part 1 for the best learning outcome, but if only Part 2 or 3 are available at your local pool, you can of course still join in as long as your child meets the age criteria.
Why can't I see levels for children aged over 4.5 years?
Turtle Tots Ireland are specialist providers of baby, toddler, and preschool swimming lessons only, and all our lessons require parent-in-pool participation. We do offer lessons up until children turn 5, but children must have started lessons with us before they turn 4 years and 6 months of age to be eligible.
If you have a 4 year old and are starting lessons for the first time, please consider that we may not be the best option for your family. Many leisure centres and hotels will offer swimming lessons for children aged 4+ in a shallow pool, and the kind of lessons where a parent doesn’t have to get in too. We don’t offer this style of lesson, so if this is what you seek, please contact your local pools directly and they will be able to advise you on their availability. Most of the pools we operate in also hold their own lessons for children aged 4+.
