Hi there, my name is Shannon the Shrimp.
I shall be your Aquatots pal for your Foundation 2 course suitable for children aged between 2 and a half and three and a half years old. Us Shrimp have been swimming on earth for approximately 200 million years and we are largely the same as we were then! We have "swimmerets" on our underbelly for super paddling to swim forward. We can't wait to see your super paddling.
Let me tell you a little bit more …
Exciting skills on this programme aim to build water confidence and a love for being in the water and aim to teach your child to confidently go under. This may need to be done gradually working up from dipping your little one's chin to begin with and building up towards fully going under.
As an older toddler, your little swimmer can look forward to lots of exciting skills in your nine week course. Our super fun jumping in from the side is a great opener to our classes, getting warmed up and ready for action. As well a nice mix of paddling and kicking skills, we will teach your child to be confident to turn back to the side and hold on and even turn under water back to Mum or Dad. As you progress through the course the more confident swimmer may like to start taking control of when they go under water with our fun Volunteer Swim between Teacher and Parent. Towards the end of the course we aim to introduce breath control techniques with our Swim Breathe Swim and starting to swim under to get a toy placed just below the surface. Classes are finished up with songs on the raft , where your child can sit and enjoy launching themselves towards Mum or Dad. Our braver swimmers like running and jumping off the raft!
Us Shrimp are very important and play an important role in the food chain as we are an important food source for larger animals ranging from fish to whales. We are omnivorous, which mean we eat small plants and animals.
There are thousands of Shrimp species that have learned to live in a wide range of habitats. We can live in the Sea as well as in rivers and lakes. To escape danger, some species of Shrimp flip off the seafloor and dive into the sea bed. So some of us can dive as well as paddle!
The oldest we usually live for seven years and we usually like to swim alone except when we produce more Shrimps when we swim together in large schools.
We are known to show off a bit and do a dance to attract other fish to come close to us so that we can eat it!
Our swimming skills come from our super swimmerets on the underside of our belly. We use them to swim forward by paddling with them, although when we need to swim fast away from danger, we flick with our tail to drive backwards very quickly.
Did you know the colour of a shrimp is influenced by its natural habitat. Some Shrimp are able to change colour to fit in with surroundings. Shrimp in tropical and sub-tropical habitats are brightly coloured. Others are transparent so that predators have a difficult time spotting them. Brown and green shrimp are found in muddy river beds. We are very clever like that.
Next term, you will be meeting Seve The Seahorse