Mark your space
Mark it once. Every card in canoe and kayak starts from this space and adds what it needs.
The space
At home, a hall or room 4 m by 8 m and a rolled newspaper or short broom handle as a paddle. On the water, a marked area of calm water and a qualified instructor.
Where it fits: indoor room (land rehearsal), club water.
Kit
A brightly coloured lifejacket or buoyancy aid of the right size, fastened, worn at all times on the water; a helmet on moving water and in rescue practice; a spare set of dry clothes, shoes that can get wet.
The child must be able to swim.
Safety
Never alone on the water; check the weather and stop if it turns; learn how to get out of and right a capsized boat before going on the water; the boat must let the paddler get out freely in a capsize; watch for cold and tiredness.
One school safety standard lets one qualified instructor take at most 8 single kayaks on a small enclosed water such as a dam, and at most 6 on other inland water that is not white water (the instructor's own boat not counted): ask the club its ratio.
No breath-holding or underwater games.
awiseathlete.com/sports/canoe-kayak/setup