Physical activity is of no small importance at any age. But special attention should be paid to the sports training of our children. The sooner we take up the physical education of the child, the greater the likelihood of raising healthy, intelligent and comprehensively developed people. Since along with muscle loads, we begin to monitor proper nutrition, regimen, and learn to set goals and achieve them, thereby making a huge contribution to the happy future of our children.
Opting for Ice Skating
When the question arises, what kind of sport should be preferred, many factors should be taken into account. This is the place of residence, and the natural features of your area or the location of the nearest stadiums, venues with certain areas of sport, and the presence of children's sports organizations and so on.
But you can safely call the lucky ones those who live near the ice rink or who have an open section near their home, where children are taught to skate. Even the simplest ice platform is enough to stand on the ice and begin to slide on it. How to teach your child to skate? You can safely think about it from the first years of the baby.
We attract children to sports
Believe me, children will receive an unforgettable experience, and taking into account physical activity when sliding and performing various figures, ice skating is simply an invaluable sport.
If you are one of the lucky ones who can attract your child to figure skating, hockey, or just the ability to skate, then do not postpone it for a long time and wait until the child grows up a little, because each parent has his own threshold of understanding in readiness and the maturity of children for sports.
Early age is not an obstacle, but an advantage
Do not be afraid of the baby's too young age, many parents have been thinking about how to teach their child how to skate for a year and a half. This is not folly, but an understandable desire of parents at an early age to be able to strengthen the baby's muscles, teach him to keep his balance.
When to teach a child
It is all the more important to teach your child how to ride on ice as early as possible if you plan to give him to the sports section. It can be like hockey, figure skating, speed skating and the like. They accept kids into sports groups from 3-4 years old, but after 8-9 many doors of sports clubs can close before your children.
If winter sports are very popular in your city , you should look for information on where and how to teach your child to skate. To begin with, you must objectively be able to assess the physical condition of your child, how firmly he stands on his feet, how he walks, how the muscles of the abdomen and back are developed.
First home preparation
If the baby is weak, do not despair and thereby give up sports loads. First, try to do simple exercises at home, gradually mastering them and gaining strength. The basic exercises will be squats, springy jumps, goose walking, side to side movement of the foot to the foot. Then these exercises are done already with the skates on the legs and on the ice. You can give the child an emphasis on an inverted stool so that he feels all the charm of sliding on the ice. You can also start by towing it in tow.
It is advisable for parents to also consult with children's trainers on how to teach a child to skate on their own. After all, it is loving parents who will be able to patiently and unobtrusively accustom the child to any sport, and then you can already give up a grown-up child who is well adapted among his peers and give it to the sports section.
We train to fall
Parents, do not forget that with all your care and foresight, children will still fall on the ice. Therefore, your main task will be to teach the child to fall correctly and be able to group when falling. At home, conduct a series of exercises to teach the baby to keep the right bend forward, thereby preventing a fall on his back or side. Lay a blanket or a dense training mat, foresee all possible cases and practice, so that the child is not afraid of his instability on the ice, and the unpleasant feeling of falling does not discourage the desire to ride.
We pay attention to training
No need to focus on how to skate quickly. Everything has its time, let the baby leisurely master the basic movements in order to glide correctly on the ice, learn to push off with one foot and slow down. With constant training and moral support from parents, the result will appear very soon. And the joy of the baby, when he will show the learned figures, compensates for all the experiences and the time spent on them.
But do not overdo the training, adhere to a certain time period. First, let it be 10 minutes, then gradually increase the time. Of course, for the first time, when the child realizes that everything is working out for him, he will slide on the ice until he has no strength left. But the next day, muscle pain can discourage further desire to comprehend the basics of riding. The child will understand how to skate quickly in the course of training, depending on how he moves forward, the correct entry into the turn and the ability to brake in time.
How to skate backwards
Now your child can successfully ride on the ice, make various movements, show interesting figures. Now he can show you how to skate backwards. It is not difficult if he knows all the rules of movement on ice. Everything is exactly the same as forward, only a small skater glides back. Based on one leg, the second slides, respectively, moves to the other leg. It is worth starting the movement back from the foot with which the child is accustomed to push off so as not to confuse him in movement. Movement should be a little arcuate, but when moving, the baby will understand and choose the most convenient glide.
But if such a movement does not immediately work out, a little more attention should be paid to how to skate backwards, and subsequently such a skill can be useful in sports. We repeat, if the baby already knows how to easily slide forward, correctly moving his legs and pushing away, then when sliding backward there will be no difficulties, only habit and constant training are necessary.
We select the right skates
If you undertook to teach your child to skate, then seriously approach the choice of skates themselves. The success of your event will depend on this. Let's start with the simplest two-skate skates. They consist of two metal platforms that attach directly to the upper shoe. They are stable and easy to use, but they are not quite suitable for more professional gliding. But for little beginners they will be just right, since they are most stable on ice.
The main skates used on the rinks are single-track. They can be curly and hockey. There are small cloves on figure skates that help to easily repel on ice and slow down. Hockey have no notches, they are absolutely smooth. It will not be very convenient for beginners to keep their balance, since they have to be repelled by the edge of the blade of the skates.
Suitable material for skating boots
You should also consider the material of the shoes on children's skates. Much depends on how intensively children are engaged in ice skating. If on an ongoing basis in the sports section, then skates are chosen with leather boots. They give the greatest opportunity to breathe your baby's legs. But it should be borne in mind that they are the coldest, so try to warm the baby's legs with woolen socks. Be sure to consider this fact when choosing the size of the skates. It is also advisable not to buy skates for growth.
You can buy skates with leatherette boots. They are always insulated with artificial fur, but if we teach a child how to skate and train for a long time, it’s better to opt for natural materials.
Plastic skates have gained popularity today. The boots themselves are made of light plastic, and the boots are always inside, which makes these skates the warmest. Fastened with clips. Additionally, such skates can be sliding, which means that they increase by two to three sizes with the growth of the baby’s legs. The only negative is that the leg is too loose in the boot, because it prevents comfortable riding on ice and can lead to injuries.
Any of the proposed options provide all the ways to perform exercises on ice (including you can easily skate in reverse). Hockey skates will also be good, especially if you are going to give your baby to the hockey section. In other cases, make preference for figure skates, since on them your baby will quickly learn to perform various kinds of tasks.
Where can I skate?
It may be that in your city there will not be an ice rink specialized for winter sports. And then the question arises of where you can skate. In this case, do not despair, with the advent of winter, impromptu street rinks are sure to form, which can be successfully used both for training and just for fun. Although it should be noted that street skating rinks are not very convenient, since various kinds of impurities are necessarily present in the ice, which prevent easy gliding. But with a great desire to ride, this will not be an obstacle.
If your child has not yet attended sports clubs where they teach all the basics of ice skating, and you cannot teach it yourself, then it is better to hire a coach who will be able to correctly explain all the intricacies of this art and show how to skate your child. These lessons will be simply invaluable in further sports, they will bring the child real benefits not only in terms of health, but also give a sea of emotions.