As a parent, you have probably wanted to teach your kids some new things or your kid may have been insisting on roller skates for a long time. Roller skating is really a great way to have fun for kids.
But, the fact is many of you would not have much experience with roller skating, don’t worry in this article I am going to share some tips that’ll help you to teach your child roller skating.
Get Right-Sized Roller Skates
At first, I would suggest buying cheaper skates but don’t compromise with the size. The size of roller skates is the same as a shoe size. So, if your kid’s shoe size is 5, then get the same sized roller skates.
A little bigger is fine but don’t get too big or too small. Too big roller skates will make him feel uncomfortable and making him harder to balance. While too small roller skates can be very tight and can cause blisters.
I suggest buying cheaper roller skate in the beginning because your child may lose interest in roller skating after a month or he may get too involved in roller skating and when he is too involved in roller skating, you will need to get him better quality skates and till that your child’s feet may grow in size.
You may even consider rollerblades or inline skates after he skates for 1-2 months.
I find these roller skates to be the best for boys:-
You can find it on amazon, they are available for very cheap rates on Amazon.
Another good option for boys in the same price range is the Trac Star roller skates.
You can ask them which one they like and I think your child is going to pick the red one. You can find three red skates here on Amazon.
For girls, the unicorn skates are the best and all the girls are a big fan of them.
But it costs a little bit more, you can check its current price on Amazon.
Wear All The Protective Gears
Safety is very important, the most injuries one gets are by falling and you cannot actually learn roller skating properly without falling so you have to prepare your child for that.
So, buy a protective gear kit for roller skating if you haven’t yet.
Helmet
The helmet is yet the most important protective gear for roller skating as the head of any person is the most vulnerable body part. So, regardless of skill, you should always be wearing a helmet.
Roller skating helmet is mostly of two types:-
Dome Skate Helmets
They are shaped like a dome as the name suggests. They are multisports helmets and can be used for many different sports as well. They provide basic protection and will work just fine for roller skating.
There is a large variety of color options in dome helmets, you can choose any helmet based on your color choice as there are basically no quality differences in most of them.
You can find them on Amazon.
Performance Helmets
They are light in weight, look really cool, and provides a little more protection than dome helmets. Some customization is done to these helmets to improve the performance of skating.
Dome skate helmets might feel uncomfortable sometimes and may reduce the speed of your skating. So, Performance helmets are great for pros and speed skaters who want to boost their speed.
Here’s a link to the best performance helmet, it weighs only 0.63 pounds (285 gram) while most other domes-shaped helmets weigh more than 1.2 pounds (544 gram) almost double of it.
You can find it on Amazon
Honestly saying, I didn’t found much difference between both the helmets in terms of protection, in terms of speed I did saw some difference but the main thing was it felt like a headache while wearing a dome-shaped helmet and I felt far more comfortable and relaxed while wearing a performance helmet.
And the same with kids, you kid is going to feel much more comfortable wearing a performance helmet than a dome helmet.
Wrist Pads, Knee Pads & Elbow Pads
All three of these play an important role in protection. You should be wearing them always while roller skating to prevent any sort of injury.
Here’s a link to the best pads kit, you can find it on Amazon for a very cheap price. I labeled them as best because they have a little bend at elbow pads which feels super comfortable and this feature is not found in many other pads.
And also there are a lot of color options for these pads so you can choose your kid’s favorite color and make him happy.
Practice Indoors First (On Carpet or Grass)
Don’t immediately go in the rinks or on the road when you get the roller skates the first time. Practice it on carpet or any soft place inside your house so that when he falls, it doesn’t hurt your child much.
Going on the rinks immediately can be dangerous as when you fall, other roller skaters might end up going over your kid which is definitely what you don’t want.
Teaching to Stand & The Right Posture
You can see this in the above images as well.
First do it yourself, show and tell your child this is how you have to do it by standing in this position.
Now, at first, teach him this without wearing roller skates for 2-3 minutes. And most probably he will easily be able to do so.
Then make him wear the roller skates and the safety guards. Hold his hand and then ask him to stand. Make him hold any other object if he is facing some difficulty.
Hold his hand for around 2-3 minutes and then leave his hands slowly and see if he’s able to balance or not. Catch his hands immediately when he seems to lose his balance.
At first, your child is going to be very afraid of falling, so make sure you hold his hands at that time. If he gets comfortable in standing, then ask him to remain in this position for the next 10 minutes.
You can click his photo during this time to divert his mind in case he gets bored.
If he can stand without any support for the next 15 minutes then you can move forward to the next tip. If not repeat the above steps and wait until he gets comfortable with the roller skates.
Hold Your Child’s Hand & Practice Duck Walk
Duck walk is a very important step in learning roller skating as it helps a person to learn balance on roller skates.
So, first show your child what he has to do, in a duck walk he just simply need to walk like a duck – a right leg up, left leg down, and then left leg up and right leg down, and so on.
Do the walk yourself and show him how he has to do it.
Now, hold his hand and ask him to replicate what you just did (walk like a duck). Do it slowly, this may take some time. Hold his hands all the time in the first 5 minutes of the duck walk.
And then ask him to do it without any support, walk with him simultaneously and catch his hands whenever he seems to lose his balance.
Once he feels comfortable duck walking with skates, you can rest for a while and ask him to do this walk for the next 2-3 days.
Skating With One Leg
Now after this 2 day period, ask him to take off skates from one of his legs and then try gliding away with his one leg. Now, you will not need to hold his hands as this is going to be easier for your child.
Kids really enjoy this. It is much more fun for your kid than the duck walk.
Practicing this one day is enough and afterward, you can follow the next tip.
Learning to Glide
This is the stage where your kid is going to fall again and again so make sure you pay extra attention to him at this stage.
So, to do this, one actually has to push off from one leg and then glide with the second and then push off with the second and glide with the first, and so on.
Hold his hands and then ask him to glide for the first couple of rounds.
Stay near him so that you can catch him when he is about to fall. Ask him to do it slowly, make sure he doesn’t over speed.
Practice this for 2 weeks and follow the next tip simultaneously.
Learning to Stop
In skating, stopping is a very important stage and many people find it difficult as well. Your child will have to learn this properly as it can be dangerous if he skates around and he doesn’t know how to stop.
The easiest way for stopping is using brake pads or stop pads, nowadays almost every skate has a brake pad at the back of the skate.
So, first ask him to put one of his legs backward and drag the brake pads, ask him to bend his knees, and try touching the ground with the stop pads.
Another way to stop roller skates is the T Technique.
In this technique, basically, you have to drag one of your feet behind forming a T with both of your feet and then start putting pressure on the back leg. This will make you stop after a few seconds.
Both these ways are great, sufficient, and work great especially when you are a beginner but later on, you should also learn other methods of stopping.
Watch this video on stopping to learn more about it so that you can teach your kid more properly.
Practice, Practice, and Practice
Now, when your child knows many basic things about roller skating, it is time for him to do the practice. Go, take your child out to any other sports court that is inactive and has concrete coverings, you can also take him to do the sidewalks which do not have much traffic.
If he gets really good at roller skating, then you can race with them as well, you on feet and he on the skates. But, make sure you don’t run too fast, you have to make your child win to make him happy
Skate With Your Child
If you can give the time, then the best way to teach your child roller skating is when you roller skate with them.
This way you both can learn skating together and the bonding will increase between both of you and it will be more fun for your kid to roller skate as he has a partner.
Bonus Tip: Send Him to The Rink To Enhance His Skills
Now, he is ready to go to the rink and enhance his skills. So, find a skating rink near your house and get your child admission there.
Skating rinks are a great way to enhance one’s roller skating skills and I would highly suggest you send your child to one of these rinks because it will help him get better at skating.
If you cannot send him to the rink, then it is time to make him go outdoors. Learn more about outdoor skating in this video:
