How to Get My Kids into Ice Skating

Initially, ice skating may seem daunting and overwhelming for your kids, especially if they’ve never set foot on the ice before. It's pretty typical for a child to get scared of new experiences - after all, even full-grown adults experience fear when trying something new! But that's the fun of venturing out into the unknown. Your kids might be scared of ice skating at first, but once they experience it for the first time, you can be sure that they’ll enjoy the experience immensely.

But getting your kids into ice skating in the first place can be hard to do. They may be too scared to start, or too anxious to continue. How can you get them into ice skating in the first place?

Encourage a Positive Attitude

As parents, you must be a beacon of positivity and encouragement for your kids to try ice skating. Reinforce their belief in themselves and encourage them to venture into different things. Assure them of how safe it is and how they’ll improve extremely quickly when they first get out onto the ice. It might be tough the first time, but things will only get easier. When we enforce a positive mindset and attitude onto our children, they become far more fearless in trying new things.

Motivating your child is the first step to building confidence in them. Help them get excited with the idea of skating and get them hyped up — this might be in the form of watching ice skating competitions the night before, talking about figure skaters and sharing the benefits of ice skating together.

Skate together as a family

Skating together as a family will help your child become way more familiar with the ice and increase their confidence tenfold. They’ll see the rest of their family skating and will want to join in. After all - who doesn't want to spend time with their family?

As parents, you can bring your children out on the ice and guide them to develop essential skills fundamental to their growth. The comfort a parent can bring their children is incomparable — making them feel safer with their surroundings and learning a new experience.

When they first get introduced to the ice, acting as a companion will ease their fear of falling, gradually build up their confidence, and get them used to the feeling of ice skating.  

Get ready to splurge

Ice skating is not a free sport, and it’s fair to say the costs can add up if you end up going consistently. However, for your kids to get engrossed and invested in a hobby, you’ve got to take them often so they don’t lose their touch and can maintain their love for the sport. 

While ice skating doesn’t require spending on expensive pieces of equipment, going ice skating at least twice a month (which seems a good number of times to get your kids properly into the sport) will cost a lot — not including the additional fees for lessons, new skates, or even other miscellaneous expenses, such as food, transportation, and more.

If you really want to get your kids into ice skating, and possibly make them competitive ice skaters, you’re going to have to splash the cash!

Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko