Ice Skating with 2 Year Olds
February 15, 2008
Taking a 2 year old ice skating can be tricky. When you go, you may be there for 5 minutes or two hours. It just depends on the reaction of your child after they first set foot onto the ice.
Our first trip we did not take safety gear – imagining that we’d be there for a few minutes and never let her go. It turned out she was there for almost two hours and did some independent skating right away. Our advice is take a bike helmet and any other desired safety gear, because you never know.
How do you get your young child interested in ice skating?
Our daughter Maya watched ice skating on television first. She loved the outfits and the skating and wanted to go right away. We actually used this as a reward for potty training – you can’t skate as well wearing a diaper.
Six things you can do to help your young child get a fast start in ice skating:
- Get stiff skates to support their ankles or cut a cardboard tube to insert into the skate and give them more ankle support.
- After one or two trips, buy them skates. You can get great deals on skates at a used sporting goods store and they quickly pay for themselves. Then you just trade them in when you need a bigger size.
- Practice marching before you go. The first thing they will do is march on the ice with their skates. Later they will glide.
- Take a skilled skater with you. You cannot just shove a new skater out there. Someone has to be with them until they develop great skills.
- Take pictures, clap and encourage their small successes. They will love it.
- Build a lifestyle where the whole family can go during the day when there are not crowds. Doing things during the day, during the work week is a great advantage.
This is one of those great workouts that you and your kids can enjoy all their life.
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