Looking for a great way to get your kids in the spirit of the Winter Olympics 2014 AND prevent childhood obesity? Ice skating is the perfect way to do both! Check out our tips on how to help your child develop a love for this fun Winter Olympics 2014 activity.
You have two alternatives for cold Canadian winter: either whine about it and stay at home or embrace it and go out and have fun! One of the best winter activity besides skiing is skating! It is a great fitness activity for adults and kids and a good way to fight childhood obesity! Besides with the Winter Olympics 2014 around the corner, kids will be more prone to do it: they can mimic their favorite Olympic champion!
But how can you start skating when you never did it before? Some families may be hesitant to start ice skating because of the cost and the risk of injuries! The following tips will show you how you can get started and help prevent childhood obesity
Ice Skating: How to embrace it and prevent childhood obesity
Kids can start as early as age 3
My kids started ice skating at the age of 3! Some children may be able to start before depending on their gross motor skills. Each year they look forward to this winter activity as it is a lot of fun for them and great exercise too! At this age, it is better to get them a cheese-cutter (also know as twin-blades) that can be fixed on their shoes! It costs around $20!
You don’t need new skates
My son’s first skates were second hand! We bought them for $10! Since we were not regular skaters, it did not matter! You can even rent skates from some shops but I prefer having the skates available whenever we want to use them! You can ask your family and friends if they have gently used skates. I have never bought skates for my daughter because my neighbor provides me with her daughter’s outgrown ones!
Have a helmet handy!
A helmet is important for protecting your child’s head during ice skating. While you can get these second hand, I prefer new ones for hygiene reasons. Sometimes they are on sale for $25 at Costco. You may even be able to find them for less.
Check your indoor arena public skating hours!
Our public indoor arena has three slots of public skating hours! It costs $1 per child and $2 per adult for a total of $6 for a family of 4! Besides it has skating bars where kids can practice safely! Adults can use it too, of course.
My kids love the indoor arenas because they meet their friends from schools! It is like a play date for them !
Take advantage of your outdoor skating rinks.
I find them more interesting than indoor arenas because you can breath fresh air! But the skating is harder because the ice may not be even! Don’t be shy to try it out!
Consider signing up your kids for skating lessons
If your budget allows and kids have fun skating, you can sign them up for ice skating lessons! They are usually less expensive than other winter activities such as skiing and hockey! They cost around $8 the lesson in our area! It can be less expensive than junk food!
Ice skating is such a fun way to get kids into winter sports and excited about the Winter Olympics 2014. Plus, it really keeps them active during the winter, which goes a long way to help prevent childhood obesity.
Do your kids enjoy ice skating? Do you have any tips to help them embrace it?
I love ice skating even though I’m not good at it.
Love this idea and hope that Dad and/or Mom can skate too!
Ice skating is so much fun! It’s definitely a good way to keep them active.
My boys love skating, great exercise!
we finally have our boys skating this year and it’s so much fun for the entire family
A great way to spend family time, being active!
Skating is such a fun family activity
Love this! Skating is so fun for a family to do together.
We love going ice skating! It’s incredibly fun, especially in the winter when there are outdoor rinks.
ice skating is a great way to raise your heart rate
Looks fun. I know my kids would LOVE to do this, but we can’t afford to get them all skates (we have 5 kids). Skating is awesome though :)
I grew up living close the Longest skating rink in Canada The Ridea Canal! We loved skating on the weekends with our parents and a nice cup of hot chocolate by the bon fires along the canal.
I grew up ice skating and so did my girls. My husband grew up out east and did the whole outdoor skating that we here in Victoria have only been able to do a couple of times in my 50 years.!
My girls loved ice skating when they were young! so much fun taking them!
keeping kids active,is a great base for later life
too bad I never skate and my daughters neither but still we are all active :)
I’d like my two granddaughters to learn to skate while they’re young…..there is an outdoor rink about 5 minutes from my house
Looks like fun.
Looks Like There Having Fun!!
LOVE ice skating. This looks like ALOT of family fun!
We have an outdoor rink right across the street from where I live, it’s wonderful!
I don’t know why I never think to do this every time winter comes! l love to do it! its been forever! Thanks for sharing!
What a great and fun activity for the kids. I never learned to ice skate…something I still regret to this day. Well, I guess it’s never too late to learn, right?!? :(
Great post. I skated a lot as a kid, so did my kids and now my grandkids love to skate.
My husband and I have been talking about taking our girls skating and starting them in lessons. Your post has given me the incentive push I needed!
Great post. I just took my Girl Scout troop ice skating this past weekend. They loved it.
This looks like so much fun. I have not tried Ice Skating since High School. I love the bars they have now to help you balance.
I was just talking to my cousin about ice skating this past weekend. She said she went all last winter, but fell a lot this winter when she went the first time! I’m determined to get my kids and myself out on the ice. Now that I’ve read your post, I’m extra determined. We have a great ice rink near our home that I need to take advantage of soon!
We have a new outdoor rink in a park in our area. It’s one of my family’s favourite weekend activities.
We just took my two girls skating for the first time a couple of weekends ago.
I’d love for my boys to learn to ice skate. Silly to say, but I would have never thought about brining a helmet!
Skating is so much fun. We are lucky to live in New England to have our own rink in our backyard. Funny that it hasn’t been cold enough recently. I love rinks that provide added equipment so even beginners can enjoy skating.
This is so great, a wonderful way to get out there exercise and have lots of fun!
Awwww how fun! Yes that is a great way to keep kids active!