How to teach a six-year-old to ice skate?

January 23, 2007 6:07 PM

I'm taking my six-year-old daughter ice skating for the first time. What's the best way to help her get on the ice?

My daughter's very excited about learning to skate, but I have no idea how to teach her the basics. I learned so long ago I haven't a clue how to impart this knowledge. Any ideas?

posted by vraxoin to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (17 answers total)

Best answer: Bring a small chair to help her stand up and stay up (it'll save your back). She'll get the "moving forward" bit of it pretty quickly, and once there, she can do without the chair (if she feels confident enough). It's actually not very different than learning to walk: trial and error go a long way and practice makes perfect. A helmet is highly recommended, since falling a lot is part of the learning experience....
posted by bluefrog at 6:16 PM on January 23, 2007

...and wrist guards. My son broke his wrist last month from falling while skating.
posted by Lokheed at 6:22 PM on January 23, 2007

I agree with bluefrog - a chair is the time-honoured and indispensable skating aid. This is not only because it will help her to stand, but also because pushing the chair helps teach the correct method of striding. As many kids learn to skate, they essentially walk on top of the ice with tiny 'tap-tap-tap' steps. If she has to push a chair, she will naturally discover that she has to turn her ankles a bit and 'dig in' in order to move it. (I realize that my description makes it sound onerous, but it really shouldn't be.)

Finally, keep the first few outings short, and top off with some steaming hot chocolate. Have fun!
posted by Urban Hermit at 6:37 PM on January 23, 2007

I presume you are going to rent skates for her. For a very first time you might try double-runner skates, though in general they are frowned upon as a learning aid. If she can inline skate then they would not help.
posted by MonkeySaltedNuts at 6:41 PM on January 23, 2007

Can you skate backwards? You skate backwards while holding her hands. She watches your side to side pushes and can imitate them while watching. This worked when my son was six. Some padding helps so that falls don't hurt. When they are six they are so close to the ground that most falls don't hurt very much anyway, but some kids can get afraid after a fall or two, and there will be falls. I told my son about how many times I fell when I was learning, and that seemed to help him not be afraid that it would happen. The chair works too. I am pretty sure that is how I first learned. It is easier on you, but some kids like the security of holding your hands.
posted by caddis at 6:44 PM on January 23, 2007

Best answer: Check with the rink before bringing a chair. They generally won't allow it on public sessions as it's hazardous to have chairs out there in the middle of the skating, but they may have some sessions where it is OK, or they will be able to loan you something.

But -- personally, I would avoid the chair as I think it's not necessary for a six year old and will teach the bad habit of leaning forward on the chair. If you are a strong enough skater to be able to guide her, just hold her hands when necessary. This page has good basics to follow -- start her with marching in place, scooter steps, then swizzles.

If your rink has group lessons available, you might try those. They are relatively inexpensive. They are likely to use the ISI level structure, which also gives you a good idea of the order of skills you would want your daughter to learn.
posted by litlnemo at 6:44 PM on January 23, 2007

My 5 year old and I went ice skating two weeks ago (my second time, his first). The rink had several metal bar things that the kids could use instead of chairs (they looked kind of like walkers, but with rails on the bottom instead of feet). They were in short supply, though, as it was a school party and there were lots of kids there who'd never skated before.

Eventually, however, we did pretty well with me just holding his hand and skating side by side.

Be aware that her feet will probably hurt a lot the first few times. (Kid Lucinda mentioned this a few times. Mine hurt a lot as well.)
posted by Lucinda at 7:31 PM on January 23, 2007

Big important thing: buy a skate key, and use it to help tie her skates tight! There is nothing worse than seeing a bunch of young'uns with their ankles almost touching the ice because their parents didn't want to hurt their feet or just don't know how to tie skates. Or, as when I learned how to skate at a precious young age, use boy's skates (with reinforced sides) instead of girl's floppy figure skates. I've also found it much more pleasant to have slightly large skates and wear an extra pair or two of thick socks, as it cushions the tightness of the skate and helps avoid chafing.
posted by nursegracer at 7:53 PM on January 23, 2007

Ice skating is great, it was one of my favorite wintery things to do when I was a kid.

I second the chair and the skate key suggestions (especially the skate key one - nothing makes skating harder than loose skates).

Whatever you do, don't get her those double-bladed skates. It's impossible to learn any of the essentials of skating beyond staying upright with those things on - they pretty much prevent you from being able to glide forward by pushing off the ice, for example.

Also, it would probably make it much easier on her if you can find a noncrowded place to skate, maybe a local rink at off hours or - best of all - a frozen pond (just make sure the ice is around six inches thick). Some of my most terrifying skating memories involve being at the rink when it was crowded with all of the taller, faster adults whizzing around and glaring at me.
posted by bubukaba at 8:18 PM on January 23, 2007

I've only heard of skate keys with reference to roller skates. What is a skate key?
posted by yohko at 8:51 PM on January 23, 2007

A skate key is something used to slip under skate laces to make it easier to tighten them: see here
posted by cosmic osmo at 9:11 PM on January 23, 2007

Best answer: We always called those lace hooks, never keys.

I agree, double-bladed skates are a Bad Thing. However, I disagree with the "boys' skates" vs. "girls' skates" comment -- figure skates aren't "girls' skates" and other skates aren't "boys' skates" -- and figure skates are often just as strong and reinforced as any other kind. It's just that rental skates suck. Cheap department store skates with the blades riveted on also suck. Wearing extra large skates generally makes it harder to skate than wearing ones that fit.

What you want are skates that are strong on the sides and fit well on the whole foot, not loosely. It is hard to get this from rentals. If you know a skater who has outgrown a pair of skates that are still in good shape, and would let you try them, that would be a good option. If you have to get rentals, get the newest, solidest feeling pair you can find. Hold them up, by the top of the boot, extending out parallel to the ground -- if the boot bends, that is not good. Get the ones that bend least. Some rinks have plastic-sided boots -- YMMV, but for me, as a kid, that was the only thing I could skate in because I have bad pronation and I couldn't stand up in floppy skates. But the plastic boots can hurt sometimes too.

Someone above mentioned that she might be able to inline skate -- if she can already inline or roller skate she's got an advantage, so you mostly just have to worry about getting her into some skates that won't make learning too much harder for her.
posted by litlnemo at 9:58 PM on January 23, 2007

Constantly remind her to BEND HER KNEES! Helps a lot with balance. And I always buy some of those round flat foamy makeup pads to stick inside next to my ankles to combat the cheapness of rental skates.
posted by radioamy at 10:06 PM on January 23, 2007

Has no one recommended a helmet yet? Make her wear a helmet. No ifs ands or buts. Yes, you should wear a helmet too, but you can probably catch yourself when you fall, so you can probably get away without one. It's not like biking where its a big fall or at higher speed. Kids can't catch themselves as well and if the rink is busy a little slip can make for an unhappy skating trip.

Up here they sell these skating trainer things - it's hard to describe, but it's like prism-shaped thing made of PVC pipe. More stable than a chair, slides easily on the ice. You can get them in hardware stores, but probably not in Austin... you could always try to make one yourself out of 2" pipe. I wish I could find a picture - it's hard to describe but is pretty obvious when you see one.
posted by GuyZero at 6:12 AM on January 24, 2007

instead of a chair use a milk crate
posted by maloon at 6:44 AM on January 24, 2007

My five year old refused to go on the ice at a skating rink. After much urging and encouraging, I discovered that she thought the ice would break and she would fall in. Ah what goes on in those little minds!
posted by Neiltupper at 7:41 AM on January 24, 2007

I'm going to second a helmet. She *will* fall & it only takes one good smack to the head on the ice to realize ice is really really hard & it hurts a lot. < /voice of experience>
posted by susanbeeswax at 2:51 PM on January 24, 2007