QnA: What is an appropriate age to start teaching my child to skate?
ASK THE SKATING PRO
Q. What is an appropriate age to start teaching my child to skate?
A. This is a common question, but one that varies greatly depending on the particular child. I have occasionally seen children under 3 in skates, but 5 or 6 is probably a good age to sign them up for a tots class to see how they enjoy skating and to find out if they can handle lessons. Most children are attentive and coordinated enough to make good progress by the time they are 8. It is important to remember that most children who start figure skating will not ever enter upper-level qualifying competitions, so they should be skating for the enjoyment and challenge that ice skating offers
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I think the answer to this question is different for parents who skate themselves or have skated before in their lifetime vs a parent who has never been on skates before. A parent who skates/skated/coaches probably would take their child to the rink at a very early age and to the child being at the rink would be somewhat second nature to them and they would learn to skate at a earlier age. The parent who just would want to get their child into skating would most likely choose a later age since most tot classes start at 3 or 4. They may even wait for a age when the child asks to take lessons on their own.
I started taking my 5 year old for skating lessons and was somewhat surprised that her 2 and a half year old sister was accepted into lessons too (she fitted into the rinks smallest hire skates).. I put both of them on the ice and they have never looked back. The 2.5 year old spent a long time pushing a penguin around on the ice, sometimes she crawled around playing polar bears, sometimes she skated. She very very rarely ever cried when she fell.. I put her in ski suit for a long time so she was always warm and a bit padded against falls. Some weeks she skated, others she ran around the seats of the rink playing, as her sister had lessons, so there was never any pressure to skate. The skating teacher was always supportive of letting her onto the ice for lessons if she wanted to skate.
By 3.5 she is whizzing around on the ice and had started working on close overs and one foot glides and has moved to the intermediate group lesson. Several of the coaches have told me that I started her at the right age as she is now extremely confident on the ice.
I was told that a kid can skate if they can walk. I would suggest giving them a go whatever age. If they’re not having fun leave it a while till they are older.