sailing ship models
I teach swimming to preschoolers. As part of my swim program, I encourage them to bring toys with them. One kid brought two sailing ship models to class. It was amazing because the models he brought would float. One of the ships had a motorize engine so it would sail around by itself. My swim kid would swim after it and restart it again.
By letting the kids bring their own toys to class, they became more confident in their swimming. The kid with the sailing ship models actually swam for ten minutes straight without touching the corners of the pool. He was so engrossed with his toys that he didn’t realize he could swim for ten minutes. This was the same kid who had a hard time swimming 15yards. 15yards for him would be about 30-45 secs. Swimming for ten minutes is hard even for most adults.