Canoe? I can.

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Young and old want to have fun outdoors, and they are more likely to paddle again if they meet this goal. Learning how to paddle is effective when it's enjoyable and it serves as the means to satisfy a goallike a child's desire to race past another boat or an adult's interest in enjoying an outing with a partner!

Lighthearted paddling games can encourage relaxed, efficient skill development at any age and at any ability. The enjoyment and safety of canoeists and kayakers can be enhanced through interesting activities that build solid skills and knowledge.

I've been building a bag of tricks for twenty years. My love for paddling games started at Linden Hill School in Northfield, Massachusetts, a residential school for dyslexic boys. My husband, who is also a teacher, and I often led recreational trips that began with an instructional session.

These kids, who learn best through a multi-sensory approach, taught me to adapt my more technical teaching style to their needs. And I discovered that it also worked with adults in other paddling programs. Forget boring technical explanations!

These new paddlers responded incredibly well to a method that involves lots of light-hearted doinghearing, seeing, and feeling an activity simultaneously. When I began to use fun games like Spin City and Wet Sponge Polo, I realized their paddling skills developed quickly without a moment of restlessness.

Using a games approach also encourages the safe development of young paddlers, some of whom are inherent thrillseekers. Engaging activities on flatwater and at moving water practice sites keeps them interested, builds good skills, and helps to prevent too fast a transition to challenging whitewater.

The activities described here are designed to give you a foundation for creating your own water playground. Parents, teachers, and camp counselors already have the resources to create a wealth of games beyond the ideas here. Use your imagination to create endless variations, and enjoy the unlimited possibilities for getting everyone excited about this sport.

Lively Instruction

Just where is the learning? That's what some observers watching the antics of water tag might ask. Improvement in paddling skills is happening right before their eyes, but it may be so informal that it bears little resemblance to a lesson.

How does this approach work? Sometimes I use the activities for practice after introducing a technical tip, because lots of relaxed practice is encouraged. At other times I sneakily replace the technical instruction with a game that targets a specific skill, and afterward I bring what they've learned to the group's attention.

The activities described below fit into the first part of the lesson framework endorsed by the American Canoe Association (ACA):

1. On land orientation
2. Calm water practice
3. Moving water practice

They are designed to supplement the ACA's Canoeing and Kayaking Instruction Manual and Introduction to Paddling, where leaders will find the basic technical content necessary for instruction. Please refer to these manuals for more intensive review of technical information if you need it.

Ready for action? Let's go!

© Article copyright The American Canoe Association, Menasha Ridge. All rights reserved.