Gifts for a swimming diploma — a reward for all that practice
A gift for the swimming diploma? After all those lessons it may be a real reward. From a trip to a tropical swimming paradise and their own diving mask to a Waboba ball and the most popular gifts for children aged 5 to 8.
By Sonja ·
A swimming diploma isn’t something you get just like that. For diploma A, a child often spends one and a half to two years in the water every week, and B and C each take about another half year. Early mornings, cold changing rooms, nerve-racking exam days, and it has often cost a lot of money too. So a lot of time, effort and money has gone into it, from your child and from you.
Then the gift for the swimming diploma may be a real reward, and straight away an encouragement to carry on with B and maybe C after A. In this blog: a swimming trip to celebrate together, gifts to swim with, and the most popular gifts for children aged 5 to 8, the age at which most children take their exam.
New to the Netherlands? Dutch children take the national swimming diplomas A, B and C (the Zwem-ABC) at a swimming school. Diploma A is the basic one; B and C add longer distances, swimming in clothes and under water. Many pools use the diplomas to decide who may swim in the deep end without armbands.
A trip to a tropical swimming paradise
The very best gift for a swimming diploma may well be a day out together at a tropical swimming pool. After all those lengths in the calm learner pool, your child can finally show what they can do, among the slides, the bubble baths and the palm trees.
Do go together, because a wave pool or a wild water channel really is something different from ordinary swimming. A wave lifts you up and pushes you sideways, you can no longer touch the bottom and you get water in your face, and in a wild water channel the current carries you along. Go in together the first few times and stay within arm’s reach. Also check the pool’s website for the rules beforehand: your diploma or your height often decides where you may swim without a float and which slides you may go down. A few swimming paradises in the Netherlands:
- Tikibad at Duinrell in Wassenaar: one of the biggest tropical pools in the country, with lots and lots of slides. Note: children shorter than 1.20 metres must wear a float, and some slides have a minimum height of 1.20 or 1.50 metres.
- Aqua Mundo at Center Parcs: every park has its own swimming paradise, and at some parks you can also come for a day of swimming without staying overnight.
- Mosaqua in Gulpen (South Limburg): with a wild water channel, a wave pool and a long slide.
- And closer to home: many ordinary pools have a slide, a wave hour or a special afternoon with toys in the water.
Prefer something to unwrap? A VVV Cadeaukaart (a Dutch gift card) can be spent on lots of days out and is valid for three years. Check whether your swimming paradise accepts it, and your child can choose where the swimming party will be.
Gifts to swim with
A gift to do with swimming can come straight along to the swimming trip, free swimming or on holiday. From swim shorts or a Waboba for a few euros to a warm onesie with a favourite character.
The product links are affiliate links: if you order through one, you support Kindkado with a small commission — at no extra cost to you. The shops are Dutch online shops that deliver in the Netherlands and Belgium, and the product names are in Dutch.
A diving mask, a snorkel or flippers
With diploma A in the bag, your child will go under water more often, and then their own diving mask is suddenly very welcome. With a snorkel it gets even more exciting: discover together what’s lying on the bottom, in the pool or on holiday. Do check the age on the packaging, so it fits snugly around a small face. And with flippers (in Dutch: flippers or zwemvliezen) they suddenly go a lot faster; you choose those by shoe size.
Kyrox — duikbril kinderen 6-15 jaar (blauw)
Kyrox — duikbril kinderen 6-15 jaar (paars)
Seac Marina — duikmasker en snorkel
Seac Speed — flippers (maat 32/33)
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ReefTourer — duikbril met snorkel (roze)
Duikmasker met snorkel zeepaardje (5+)
Little Dutch — duikbril Dreamy Mermaid (3-8 jaar)
Splash & Fun — masker en snorkel Pro Star (6+)
Their own towel, poncho or onesie
After swimming, wrap up in something of your own: a big towel with a favourite character or a hooded poncho that lets your child get changed by themselves. And lovely after swimming: quickly putting on a warm onesie.
HEMA — kinderponcho krab (68x78)
Sonic — handdoek Team Sonic (70x140)
Disney Ariel — strandlaken (70x140)
Pokémon — onesie Pikachu (122/128)
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HEMA — kinderponcho velours (68x78)
Minnie Mouse — onesie (122/128)
New swimwear
After one and a half to two years of swimming lessons, the old swimming trunks or swimsuit are often too small or worn out. A new one in a cheerful colour is a practical gift that can come straight along to the swimming trip or on holiday.
HEMA — kinderbadpak zebra (lila)
Next — zwemshort jongens (blauw)
Donnay — junior zwemshort (zalmroze)
HEMA — kinderzwembroek palmbomen
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HEMA — kinderzwembroek kobaltblauw
Waboba and diving toys
A Waboba ball skips across the water like a flat stone, which makes throwing and catching in the pool twice as much fun. The Original is the classic, the Pro Ball is slightly bigger. And with diving toys, such as torpedoes and diving rings that sink to the bottom, your child playfully practises the swimming under water that comes back in B and C.
Waboba Original — stuitert op het water
Benson — duiktorpedo's (set van 4)
SportX — duikringen (set van 4)
Waboba Pro Ball — stuitert op het water
Popular at ages 5 to 8: for every child
Most children are about 5 to 8 when they get diploma A. At that age, these gifts are spot on for every child: a card game for the whole family, a LEGO cat you can also build as a dog or a pigeon, a big book full of special nature and a wooden case full of drawing supplies.
Prefer something that has nothing to do with swimming? These gifts always go down well with children aged 5 to 8, in different price ranges: first for every child, then for boys and for girls. More ideas in our gift ideas for ages 5–6 and ages 7–8.
Beverbende (kaartspel)
LEGO Creator 3-in-1 — Speelse kat
Het dikke boek van onze bijzondere natuur
Starksøn — houten tekenkoffer (141-delig)
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SmartGames — IQ-Fit (denkpuzzel)
Teken- en schilderkoffer (46-delig)
Alfabet — Charlotte Dematons (zoekboek)
* Amazon-prijs van 9 okt, kan afwijken
Popular with boys aged 5 to 8
Laughing, puzzling and a game you can win: the joke book of the Stoute Broertjes (the Naughty Brothers), a logic puzzle with cars, the card game Exploding Kittens and Bowser’s LEGO race from Super Mario. More ideas in our gift ideas for boys aged 5–6 and 7–8.
De Zoete Zusjes — De stoute broertjes moppenboek
SmartGames — Parking Puzzler
Exploding Kittens (kaartspel)
LEGO Super Mario — Bowsers razende race
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Agent en Boef (prentenboek)
LEGO Ninjago — Lloyds groene bosdraak
LEGO Mario Kart — Shy Guy in de Vleugelflitser
Popular with girls aged 5 to 8
Making their own bracelets with beads and charms, a glitter hairband, the friendship book of the Zoete Zusjes (the Sweet Sisters) and a LEGO Ferris wheel of sweets and cupcakes to build and play with. More ideas in our gift ideas for girls aged 5–6 and 7–8.
Joyage — armbandjes maken (kraaltjes en bedels)
Glitter haarband (goud)
De Zoete Zusjes vriendenboek
LEGO Friends — Reuzenrad van snoep en cupcakes
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Djeco — armbandjes maken
LEGO Friends — Heartlake City konijnenhotel
De Zoete Zusjes — moppenboek 2
On to diploma B and C
After diploma A, many children (and parents) have had about enough of swimming lessons. Still, swimming experts advise against stopping there: for water safety, get at least diploma B as well, and preferably C. The Dutch national water safety council (Nationale Raad Zwemveiligheid) recommends the full Zwem-ABC, because only with C is a child well prepared for a pool with attractions and for open water. B and C each take about another half year, and in them your child swims longer distances, also in clothes and under water. That makes them more confident in deep and rough water, which you notice in a wave pool and in a swimming paradise with attractions. A few ways to keep going:
- Practise outside the lessons too. Free swimming together, with diving rings or their own diving mask, makes practising for B and C a lot more fun.
- Agree on something to look forward to. For example: with diploma C we’ll go to the wild water channel, or to a swimming paradise with the whole family.
- Keep track with a chart. A home-made chart with a sticker after every lesson shows how far your child has come.
- Celebrate B and C too. Every diploma is another half year of practice. Many families celebrate the swimming diploma with grandparents, family or friends, so it becomes a really festive moment. Often a few people already come to watch the exam, and that makes your child feel extra special.
Celebrating without (much) money
Celebrating the swimming diploma doesn’t have to be expensive. What matters is that your child notices how proud you are:
- Getting chips or an ice cream together after the exam
- Hanging the diploma in a frame in their room, with a photo of the exam
- Flags or a garland on the front door when your child comes home
- Calling or video-calling grandma and grandpa to share the news
- Your child gets to choose dinner
- Bringing a friend along to the next free swimming session
Frequently asked questions
What is a nice gift for a swimming diploma?+
Something that lets your child show straight away what they’ve learned: a trip to a tropical swimming pool, their own diving mask with a snorkel, a big towel or poncho, or a Waboba ball that bounces on water. A gift that has nothing to do with swimming is fine too, of course: a game, a book or something to build, matching what your child loves.
How long does it take to get swimming diploma A?+
For diploma A a child often spends one and a half to two years in the water every week, depending on their age, the pool and how quickly it goes. B and C each take about another half year. That’s a long time, which is why the diploma really deserves to be celebrated.
Should you carry on with B and C after diploma A?+
Yes, that’s a good idea. Swimming experts advise against stopping after diploma A: for water safety, get at least B as well, and preferably C (the Dutch national water safety council recommends the full Zwem-ABC). With B and C your child swims longer distances, also in clothes and under water, and becomes more confident in deep and rough water. That comes in handy in a wave pool, in open water and on holiday. A small gift or a day out to look forward to helps them keep going.
Can my child go in the wave pool or the wild water channel alone with diploma A?+
That differs per pool: some let children with diploma A into the deep end without armbands, others require a B or C diploma for the wild water channel, or a minimum height (at Tikibad, for example, a float below 1.20 metres). Check the website beforehand. And even when it’s allowed: waves and currents are very different from swimming in calm water, so go in together the first few times and stay close.
How much do you spend on a gift for a swimming diploma?+
There’s no fixed rule. A Waboba or swim shorts cost a few euros, a diving mask with a snorkel or a towel with a favourite character a bit more, and a swimming trip with the family is the biggest gift. It’s mainly about the gesture: showing how proud you are of all that practice.
More gift inspiration?
A good school report deserves a party too: read our tips for school report gifts. Or browse our gift ideas by age for many more ideas.