Swimming Classes for Babies & Preschool children across West Kent and East Sussex. Booking now for immediate starts!

A BIG welcome from Puddle Ducks West Kent & East Sussex!

We provide award winning baby and pre-school swimming classes in and around Brighton, Crowborough, Eastbourne, East Grinstead, Hailsham, Hassocks, Haywards Heath, Hove, Maidstone, Sevenoaks, Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells. You can even join a Puddle Ducks class before your baby is born with our Aquanatal lessons at Bowles Activity Centre (between Crowborough and Tunbridge Wells).

My passion for teaching babies and children to swim began when my youngest daughter Gracie May and I started attending classes when she was just 11 weeks old. From day one it became the highlight of our week; a special bonding time that surprisingly I enjoyed as much as her!

As a child I was initially not a strong swimmer and I had an alarming experience, nearly drowning having fallen into a pool well out of my depth.

From that moment on I resolved to improve my own ability in the water and I never looked back; now I am lucky enough to be teaching other children to swim.

Puddle Ducks baby and pre-school swimming classes are for children from birth to four years of age and families can start swimming with us at any time.

Every Puddle Ducks lesson has been carefully devised to fit your child’s developmental stage and incorporates rhyme, music and movement based on extensive child development research. Our teachers also adapt the activities to suit each child's individual needs.

Puddle Ducks work closely with Birthlight and the STA on the best and safest way to submerge children so that they feel empowered and never forced. The answer is simple - the child decides. Our classes offer children the chance to learn the importance of water safety, including personal survival. These are invaluable skills to develop at such a young age and will instil a confidence and respect for the water that will last a lifetime.

Our Puddle Ducks Aquanatal classes are also fantastic for mums-to-be, offering a lovely combination of safe, yet challenging exercise, muscle strengthening, relaxation and breathing. There are two elements to the lessons – exercises to ensure that you stay fit and healthy and relaxation time. You can be confident in the knowledge that our classes are taught by fully qualified Aquacise, Aquanatal and Ante-natal swimming teachers.

My wife Lindsay and I run the business with the help of our friendly and hardworking team and we aim to give you the best possible service both in the water and through our efficient administration; as well as our intensive Puddle Ducks training, our teachers are fully STA qualified and all our staff are DBS checked so that you know that you and your child are in the very safest hands.

Please get in touch if you would like to find out more about your local Aquanatal or Baby and Pre-school swimming classes. Our office is manned seven days a week – Lindsay, Jenny, Louisa and Rachel are here to answer all your questions!

We look forward to welcoming you into our Puddle Ducks family very soon!

Clive and Lindsay Relf

Local News

Our Partners

Little Pickles Baby Massage

Baby Massage has many benefits: ❤ Relaxing and calming baby ready for restful sleep ❤ Aids digestion ❤ Helps to relieve Colic and Constipation symptoms ❤ Reducing and relieving muscle tension, improving flexibility ❤ Building communication and bonding ❤ Builds a bedtime routine Little Pickles Baby Massage Classes are relaxed and friendly with a welcoming atmosphere, an ideal first class for you and your little one. Our classes are all about the babies; so feeding, changing and those all-important cuddles mid-session are welcome. Why not come and see why 100% of attendees would recommend Little Pickles to a friend. Classes run over 4 weeks and cover a full body massage sequence, including specific routines for Colic/Constipation and Teething. Weekly handouts are provided to support practice at home between sessions.

LEGS BUMS & BUBBAS!

Kate (Harmony Fitness) is a specialist in pre & postnatal fitness and new mum herself and so knows the difficulties with trying to get fit after having a baby!! Therefore she created these popular classes specifically for mums, where your little ones come along with you! The exercises in class are designed to build strength and help get back into shape after having a baby. Babies as young as six weeks coming along, as well crawlers and walkers. The class is fun, friendly and ensures you’ll have a good workout. You can go at your own pace and see to your child as much as you need to! Kate brings toys but bring anything you need for your child! In the new year Kate also launches a new website with membership options to access the workouts to do at home!! Classes run across Ashford and Maidstone. See Kate’s website for reviews, photos and information and please contact her for details.

Bannatyne Health Club (Eastbourne)

Bannatyne Health Club Eastbourne has introduced upgraded gym equipment including innovative Technogym SKILLROWs and Technogym Omnia 8, opening up a new world of fitness. More than 75 classes a week are available with options ranging from Yoga to B:Functional. Relax with a coffee or a Kinetica protein shake in the Cafe Bar or enjoy the spa facilities, the options are endless. Health Club members from Eastbourne also get 10% off their first Puddle Ducks booking for baby & pre-school swimming lessons.

Hartbeeps

Many of our customers have been talking to us about Hartbeeps and several of our staff now also attend regularly. Gracie really enjoyed attending a class in Sevenoaks so we thought we'd let you all know a bit more about these fab classes! Hartbeeps puts your child at the heart of magical, musical adventures. They offer original and fun developmental baby classes, toddler classes and pre-school classes, as well as educational sessions, pregnancy classes, stay & play with baby discos and children's parties. All of the classes are set to a soundtrack of original songs, remixed nursery rhymes and lullabies.

NCT Tunbridge Wells and District branch

For the second year in a row, NCT Tunbridge Wells and District branch is proudly sponsored by Puddle Ducks West Kent and East Sussex (baby and pre-school swim school). For decades the Branch has been supporting parents and parents-to-be across the area with the highs and lows of family life. Whether you’re expecting your first, are new parents or you are adding more to your family - the groups, courses and events offer the information, networks and support to make life with little (and bigger!) ones that bit easier. Main branch contact: Tel: 0300 330 0700 | Email: tunbridgewells@nct.org.uk Nearly New Sales Enquiries: NNS.tunbridge@nct.org.uk

Little Street, Maidstone

Little Street is an award winning role play centre for young children Responding to children’s love of role play, they have created a realistic street designed with little people in mind. Their play centres feature a supermarket, construction site, police station, theatre, medical centre and more; Little Street is a scaled down version of a typical town, inspiring children to explore life in the world around them. Open 7 Days a week (4 play sessions daily).

LoveLocal card - Sevenoaks

An annual membership card for the Sevenoaks area which gives you spectacular savings in more than 100 local shops, restaurants and businesses (plus children’s activities and classes) with more being added all the time! It costs just £20 for 12 months and gives you 100s of pounds off meals out, services, purchases and more – just show it at the till or quote your membership number when booking a class for great savings. A list of where you can use your card is available on their website. Puddle Ducks are delighted to offer discounts to new customers through the LoveLocal Card!

The Daisy Foundation

Lucy Newman offers Active Antenatal Classes for mums-to-be, Birthing Couples Workshops and Baby Massage and Baby Yoga Classes in Crowborough, Uckfield and the surrounding area. Daisy classes are all about you! Unbiased information, calming tips, breathing, relaxation and time to focus on what is important for you, your baby and your birth. Daisy Parent and Daisy Baby classes continue these themes, supporting you throughout your parenting journey. Lucy’s classes are friendly, supportive and welcoming, with lots of opportunity to make local friends. Free trials available for Puddle Ducks customers – contact Lucy for details: lucy-newman@thedaisyfoundation.com / 07519 620029

Buddha Buddies

Buddha Buddies classes are carefully broken down into age groups with activities expertly tailored to appropriate skill sets. All classes include innovative use of props such as eye pillows, cuddly animals, bath toys and natural materials such as acorns and feathers. For mums and dads, babies or toddlers yoga can help dramatically improve your physical and mental wellbeing. The sessions provide you with the tools to take the movements and ideas home, outside, the beach, the park – anywhere you can stretch those bodies! 10% discount for Puddle Ducks customers: quote “PUDDLE DUCKS” when booking. 01732 490736 / info@buddhabuddies.co.uk

BirthPlus Antenatal Courses

Friendly BirthPlus antenatal classes will give you contemporary, evidence-based and local background information on which to underpin all your important birth choices. BirthPlus run local classes for parents-to-be in Tunbridge Wells, Sevenoaks and Uckfield. Preparation for the big event is a valuable investment. The time you spend with their midwives at good quality antenatal classes will not only brace you for the experience of a lifetime up ahead but also bring you together with other expectant couples in an easy-going sociable gathering. The friends you will make in your classes can last a life time and the peer support you will get from one another can be immeasurable.

Baby Explorers

BABY EXPLORERS and TODDLER EXPLORERS are great opportunities to explore your baby’s new world together through touch, sound, vision, taste and smell... all in a relaxed, fun and friendly environment. It’s amazing how quickly your baby changes in their first year and it’s fascinating to watch them become extremely curious toddlers, achieving different milestones week after week. Sessions employ a myriad of different sensory toys, props and objects to stimulate all your baby's senses. Baby Explorers are passionate about offering new parents a chance to interact with their babies and to capture their imaginations, while providing a place for both parents and babies to make new friends.

Recre8 Tonbridge

Recre8 Tonbridge has a comprehensive range of leisure, sporting, creative and educational courses on offer for babies and toddlers (Recre8 Tots) right through to older children (Recre8). Puddle Ducks are proud to be part of the Recre8 Tots programme with our swimming classes at the Tonbridge School Centre. "We offer term time and holiday courses in a variety of activities in swimming, dance, climbing, cricket, tennis and much more. There's something for everyone" says Mike Bazell the Recre8 Manager.

Bowles Activity Centre

Bowles is a centre of excellence for outdoor and experiential learning in the South East of England which provides a unique and inspirational setting for any day out, birthday celebration, team development or school trip. Set in stunning countryside on the Kent and Sussex border, Bowles provides a unique and inspirational learning environment set alongside a spectacular natural sandstone crag. It combines a high quality residential centre with excellent outdoor adventurous activity facilities including an outdoor floodlit dry ski slope, ropes courses and indoor heated swimming pool. Bowles is the perfect place to try out exciting new activities –you can learn to ski, snowboard, sledge, canoe or rock climb.

Fosse Bank School

Fosse Bank is an independent school for children aged three to eleven. Children at this school come from Sevenoaks, Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge Kings Hill and many of the pretty villages in between. Being a relatively small school, staff know the children exceptionally well and cater for individual requirements, both academic and pastoral. They delight in having children who are confident and independent and keen to learn. Staff work with parents right the way through school and as pupils reach the upper years the school ensures the best outcome for each child as they prepare for senior schools.