You love skating and you want your kids to love it too, right?! But what if they hate it? What if you wasted all this money on skates they will never use? Don't stress, we have a few quick tips on both getting kids to love roller skating (especially during quarantine, "P.E." amirite?).
Buying the Right Skates
First of all, look no further than our Kid at Heart page for all you need on kids skates. I highly recommend the Glitter Pop Skates (adjustable!!) and for both looks and price, my FAVORITE skate is the Chaya Unicorn Rainbow Skates. Looking to be matchy matchy with your kid? Check out the Impala Skates (in Holographic or White) to match right up!
Look, in order to buy functional kids skates you're going to have to spend at least $60-100 for them to feel comfortable and for the skates to last longer than a week. I know it can be a little pricey to start, but you'll be rewarded with a happy kid.
They'll Love It, Just Be Patient
If you dont have downstairs neighbors, let them start their skating career inside. Let them try them on the carpet, in the kitchen where counters are a great hand holder. Let them explore how they feel in their skates before hitting the great big outdoors. Focus on "marching" rather than "skating" because it will keep those skates right under their hips and keep them a lot more stable, and if they EVER feel like they are going to fall they need to put their hands on their knees until they feel stable enough to stand upright again.
Once they have mastered indoor skating, start to consider what kind of surface they can skate on outside. Try to take them somewhere as flat and level as possible. Most of the skates we sell for kids come with a hybrid wheels which means it can function both indoors and outdoors! Safety Gear is a must once you hit the streets!
If they try it once and are too intimidated by the great outdoors then circle back to indoor skating for a while or possibly pick a different spot and start on a more stable surface like grass!
How Can You Help?
As a parent its hard not to get stressed out when you kid doesn't pick something up right away, but they might be a lot more motivated if you are an active participant with them! Make up fun goals, like marching from the living room to the kitchen and tagging the fridge, or practicing cannon balls (thats where you squat down as low as possible and try to touch your butt to your heels), whatever fun game you can think of to distract them from the unease of being so unstable will really make it count
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