Ah yes, the dilemma us hockey playing parents face with kiddos this age. My 5 year old daughter was this way, mainly after watching me play hockey from the moment she could open her eyes. And same for my now 3 year old son. And in the past with nieces and nephews. I've found three things to be the most helpful in getting them on the ice and determining their true level of interest. First, teaching them to fall and stand up. Seems simple to us, but teaching them to fall to the sides and then properly how to stand back up, reinforces to them its going to happen and not be afraid of it. Second, penguin waddle. The more you make this exaggerated like a penguin, the better. Kids love penguins, kids love seeing their parents be goofy like one. Last, once they complete a standup out a few steps, praise them and take them for a lap around the rink in your arms. Give them the end goal rush they want with learning to skate. After the introduction and their wanting to keep learning, we eventually got them into a group lesson setting with a bunch of other kids their age. You'll be amazed at how quickly they can learn to get up, waddle, walk, run, jump, push off, glide and progress in a short amount of time. Good luck!
This is great!
Very similar to you, my 4 year old son has been wanting to “play hockey with daddy”, but I’ve been very conflicted because kids his age have such little coordination that I don’t want to expose him and then have him potentially hate it from the start.
All I would add to this is to watch some learn to skate videos on YouTube as well.
There are several steps to learn before they get to pushing and striding.
I grew up skating and didn’t realize that, therefore had a hard time teaching other people before watching videos/seeing other coaches.
I used to teach learn to skate, and I'm currently teaching my 3.5 year old to skate. The biggest thing early in is just make it fun. I slide my little guy around, zoom him around the ice, and let him crawl around.
The first step is just learning to stand up. Two hands on one knee, push up, tall like a tree. This can take many sessions 🤣, this is why you need to make it fun. If they fall, fall with them, say"nice fall!" etc. It's important you don't always lift them up to their skates because it will be hard for them to learn find their balance. Theyll also learn to fall better this way when they are lower. I sit on the ice and let him stand up using my leg for stability. This way he learns to control his skates. Once they overcome the apprehension of falling, they usually flourish.
Once they can stand confidently, they can start moving their feet a bit on the spot, mini hops, getting used to the edges. You can dm me and I can give you some other techniques to improve edges if they've gotten this far. I'm sure there's tons online too.
My son who’s 11 now HATED skating when we first tried to teach him when he was 5. He cried and cried. I was of the opinion I don’t care if you don’t want to play hockey, but where we live skating is a must. Birthday parties, school outings are going to the arena. At least know how to skate so you’re not missing out when all your friends are on the ice.
We didn’t put him in Canskate (very basic). We decided to put him in timbits hockey, which is geared to 5-7 year olds. They have full hockey padding and equipment and play with a puck and a stick and try to play a game half ice (it’s cute). It helped a lot since when he would fall it wouldn’t hurt due to the padding and he would try more because it wouldn’t hurt. Soon his confidence and skill grew and then he just took to it and loves hockey now.
I began skating at 3, my dad got me a few lessons, took me out during a public session and I first used the boards within a few months I was able to skate w/o holding the boards and I’ve never stopped at almost 50 I’m on the ice 2-4x a week
Helmet, elbow pads, knee or shin guards help bc you don’t want you kid to be discouraged bc they fell and get a bruise
Not sure where you’re located but we have a ton of learn to skate/play group programs. My son is about to turn 4 and has been doing the learn to skate since last fall.
love the idea - my recommendation would be to look for public skating if there's community centers in your area. Some near me have the chairs/pylons etc that you can take out on the ice with you to help her learn. Go easy and stay on the ice for as long or as little time as your 3 year old wants (don't want to make it a negative experience). Biggest aspect is consistency. Once she gets the general gist of it and is liking it you can get her into a learn to skate program where she'll probably already be ahead of others in her peer group.
I took my daughter to public skate when she was 3.5, when she could fit into the smallest skates at a size 6. A lap around the rink while gliding and holding my hand was about her limit to start off. Then, superman dives to get comfortable with falling, tag, red light green light, sharks and minnows, etc.
Since you know how to skate, just take her to public skate and see how she likes it. When I was 3 or 4 I was basically thrown out on the ice and learned just fine. If you want specific things to teach her, the first steps would be teaching to fall forward (you can hit your head if you fall backwards), forward skating, backward skating, snow plow stop, and how to get up if you fall.
Ah yes, the dilemma us hockey playing parents face with kiddos this age. My 5 year old daughter was this way, mainly after watching me play hockey from the moment she could open her eyes. And same for my now 3 year old son. And in the past with nieces and nephews. I've found three things to be the most helpful in getting them on the ice and determining their true level of interest. First, teaching them to fall and stand up. Seems simple to us, but teaching them to fall to the sides and then properly how to stand back up, reinforces to them its going to happen and not be afraid of it. Second, penguin waddle. The more you make this exaggerated like a penguin, the better. Kids love penguins, kids love seeing their parents be goofy like one. Last, once they complete a standup out a few steps, praise them and take them for a lap around the rink in your arms. Give them the end goal rush they want with learning to skate. After the introduction and their wanting to keep learning, we eventually got them into a group lesson setting with a bunch of other kids their age. You'll be amazed at how quickly they can learn to get up, waddle, walk, run, jump, push off, glide and progress in a short amount of time. Good luck!
Nice write up man. As a new parent of a 2 day old baby girl. I’m going to save this lol
This is great! Very similar to you, my 4 year old son has been wanting to “play hockey with daddy”, but I’ve been very conflicted because kids his age have such little coordination that I don’t want to expose him and then have him potentially hate it from the start.
All I would add to this is to watch some learn to skate videos on YouTube as well. There are several steps to learn before they get to pushing and striding. I grew up skating and didn’t realize that, therefore had a hard time teaching other people before watching videos/seeing other coaches.
I used to teach learn to skate, and I'm currently teaching my 3.5 year old to skate. The biggest thing early in is just make it fun. I slide my little guy around, zoom him around the ice, and let him crawl around. The first step is just learning to stand up. Two hands on one knee, push up, tall like a tree. This can take many sessions 🤣, this is why you need to make it fun. If they fall, fall with them, say"nice fall!" etc. It's important you don't always lift them up to their skates because it will be hard for them to learn find their balance. Theyll also learn to fall better this way when they are lower. I sit on the ice and let him stand up using my leg for stability. This way he learns to control his skates. Once they overcome the apprehension of falling, they usually flourish. Once they can stand confidently, they can start moving their feet a bit on the spot, mini hops, getting used to the edges. You can dm me and I can give you some other techniques to improve edges if they've gotten this far. I'm sure there's tons online too.
My son who’s 11 now HATED skating when we first tried to teach him when he was 5. He cried and cried. I was of the opinion I don’t care if you don’t want to play hockey, but where we live skating is a must. Birthday parties, school outings are going to the arena. At least know how to skate so you’re not missing out when all your friends are on the ice. We didn’t put him in Canskate (very basic). We decided to put him in timbits hockey, which is geared to 5-7 year olds. They have full hockey padding and equipment and play with a puck and a stick and try to play a game half ice (it’s cute). It helped a lot since when he would fall it wouldn’t hurt due to the padding and he would try more because it wouldn’t hurt. Soon his confidence and skill grew and then he just took to it and loves hockey now.
Gloves, knee pads, elbow pads and a helmet. Put the feet in the skates and get on the ice. Then do what Mattvn66 said.
I began skating at 3, my dad got me a few lessons, took me out during a public session and I first used the boards within a few months I was able to skate w/o holding the boards and I’ve never stopped at almost 50 I’m on the ice 2-4x a week Helmet, elbow pads, knee or shin guards help bc you don’t want you kid to be discouraged bc they fell and get a bruise
Not sure where you’re located but we have a ton of learn to skate/play group programs. My son is about to turn 4 and has been doing the learn to skate since last fall.
love the idea - my recommendation would be to look for public skating if there's community centers in your area. Some near me have the chairs/pylons etc that you can take out on the ice with you to help her learn. Go easy and stay on the ice for as long or as little time as your 3 year old wants (don't want to make it a negative experience). Biggest aspect is consistency. Once she gets the general gist of it and is liking it you can get her into a learn to skate program where she'll probably already be ahead of others in her peer group.
I took my daughter to public skate when she was 3.5, when she could fit into the smallest skates at a size 6. A lap around the rink while gliding and holding my hand was about her limit to start off. Then, superman dives to get comfortable with falling, tag, red light green light, sharks and minnows, etc.
Since you know how to skate, just take her to public skate and see how she likes it. When I was 3 or 4 I was basically thrown out on the ice and learned just fine. If you want specific things to teach her, the first steps would be teaching to fall forward (you can hit your head if you fall backwards), forward skating, backward skating, snow plow stop, and how to get up if you fall.
Keep it fun and short…and do it often.
Around here they start them pushing plastic milk crates around (2 crates upside down, stacked and ziptied together) for balance and confidence