Ice skating: A Fun Way to Fight Childhood Obesity for your Future Olympian

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.

ice-skating-prevent-childhood-obesity

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.

ice-skating-prevent-childhood-obesity
Using a bar helps kids and adults learn how to ice skate!

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?

 

34 thoughts on “Ice skating: A Fun Way to Fight Childhood Obesity for your Future Olympian”

  1. 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 :)

  2. 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.

  3. 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.!

  4. 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

  5. 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?!? :(

  6. 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!

  7. 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!

  8. 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.

Leave a Reply to sharon boyle Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *