Tips and Tricks for New Skaters
By Jacqueline Kovacs
Originally published in Today's Parent Family Living, Winter 2003

Here are some tricks for helping new skaters find their footing.

Go see: "Go and watch an actual skating program with your child," advises Lynn Hayzelden, owner of Skaters First in Aurora, Ontario. "Let them see what skaters do, what skating looks like." This could spark your child's interest and inspire her to give skating a good try.

Warm up: Get your child used to the feeling of skates, well before you head for the ice. "Buy the skates and guards and let your kids try them on in the house," says Lynn Hayzelden, owner of Skaters First in Aurora, Ontario. "Let them walk around on carpet - not ceramics where they'll slip." Do this for 15 minutes a day for a few days before that first skate, and your child will have one less thing to adapt to.

Start sharp: Dull blades mean less control and more slipping on the ice, and new skates are not sharpened by the manufacturer, so be sure to get your child's skates done before he hits the rink. Ask around for a reputable sharpener: Small skates are more likely to be damaged by poor sharpening.

Help out: To help your young skater balance, kneel and hold her at arm's length. Encourage her to take three steps and count them as she goes. Then give her a hug. Increase the distance and number of steps as she progresses. Whatever you do, don't stand and hold her up-stretched hands. "When they've got their arms stretched up above their heads, it throws their balance off," says Hayzelden.

Think props: Use skate walkers, a plastic bowling set, little basketball nets, hockey sticks - anything that will engage a new skater on the ice while distracting her from the fact that she's actually learning to skate while playing. "You're trying to encourage kids to stand, bend down, take a few steps," says Hayzelden. "You want them to be moving, without concentrating on skating."

Chill out: "Some kids just aren't ready," says Hayzelden, "and some three-year-olds skate right away." Sometimes kids just want to sit and play on the ice and parents get discouraged, but often all a child needs to master skating is time. "Wait a year," she says, "and try again." And in the meantime, watch hockey and figure skating on TV and see if it interests your child. But don't push it. Remember, Hayzelden says, "it's supposed to be fun."