Mom/Dad and Tot Classes

[mdvask8r]

What is your favorite tip, game, etc for teaching a parent/tot class? The adult & child are both in skates for this class. I've taught this format before where the adult was in shoes while the child wore skates, but have not yet experienced a class with both parties in skates (and the adult possibly not real steady on skates himself 8O . All tips welcome!!

[sk8tmum]

If the parent isn't stable on skates: then, a gentle conversation about the benefits of knee pads, elbow pads and helmets for adults should occur. There's nothing more offputting to many little ones than seeing mum or dad or another adult get injured on the ice. Plus, your having to deal with an injury while you're trying to coach ...

Other idea: give Mum/Dad a bottle of bubbles and a bubble blower, the parent creates the bubbles and the kid chases them. Both get to participate, and it's a great way to get kids moving unconsciously. The adult can pretty much stand still, which helps with the unstable parent issue ... Of course, clear with rink management about having soap bubbles on the ice ...

[CanAmSk8ter]

I've never taught Parent/Tot, but one thing I like to do with Tots is take a dozen or so Beanie Babies and spread them around (or, if space allows, let the kids throw them) and send them out to pick them up. That seems like something parents could "help" with, at least by the second or third class, even if they're not all that experienced themselves.

You can also put a Beanie of the child's head/helmet and see how far they can march without it falling off- and I bet most preschoolers would get a kick out of seeing Mom or Dad try to skate with a Beanie on their head.

[dbny]

I use a plush ball to keep hands/arms in front and get the kids to relax some. Not so sure how relaxing that would be for the unsteady adults. When the ball is dropped, the kids get to go get it and pick it up. Later they can do F swizzles and rocking horses over it. I also use beanie animals for steady arms - put one on the top of each hand and "race" the students (adults too) to see who can go farthest (marching or swizzles depending on skill level)without dropping one.

[Isk8NYC]

First make sure the rentals any parents would be using are in good shape and require helmets, proper clothing, and figure skates (for the beginners).

Giving them dull, broken-down skates is a recipe for disaster. One rink I worked at used to keep a list of qty/sizes and "pull" good skates for the parents in advance. No one was going to steal the skates, so they didn't collect their shoes as collateral, which helped.

The first lesson should really be "how to tie skates." Off-ice of course.
Then teach them how to get on the ice safely without teetering on the white threshold. :roll:

You'll have to organize the group into skating parents vs. non-skating parents. Two rows will help - ones that need the wall, others to their left away from the wall.

Put the non-skaters near the door or wall, and work on falling/getting up first. (I usually play "Ring around the Rosie")
Proceed to marching and gliding. Emphasize the knee bend for the parents - it'll save them if they lose balance.

For activities:
Teach the parents how to properly assist their child around the rink. (Hold same hand, put other hand in the small of back.) Obviously, the parent has to be stable for this activity.

You can give the parents baskets to hold and scatter toys on the ice for the little ones to collect. The goal would be to fill the basket with the toys. Keep moving the parents a little further from the kids.

Hand out washable markers and have the kids draw "paths" on the ice for the parents to follow.

[slusher]

I only did a moms and tots once, filling in for someone, had no idea what I was getting myself into. The range of abilities was crazy. The best scenario was newbie parent, newbie child. This was my group. We played leapfrog. One skated to a line I drew on the ice, the other had to skate to that and pass them and stop, then the first person had to skate to them and pass them. The kids would urge on the parent. I was able to teach them all together, giving the parent more details on some things because as adults we like that :P

Groups where there was a mismatch between parent and child skating abilities were harder to handle, I guess some of the parents were expecting a lesson for themselves, and the program wasn't designed for that. If you were a new skater at the level of your child, of course you would learn to skate and stop along with them, but if you could skate and stop and spin and jump, the highest lesson you were going to get in the whole program would be a 2 foot snowplow. The head coach emphasized that several times, that parents were there to assist their child. I wasn't a fan of the program and didn't put my name in for it this year.

[mdvask8r]

Thanks everyone for your great tips. We all survived the first lesson today and had a great time. Guess I worried for nothing as all the parents were fine. The class description does specify that the adult must be able to skate the width of the rink and whadayaknow, they all could! Most of the little ones found their balance well enough to march unassisted for at least a few steps -- the hardest part here is convincing mom or dad to let go long enough for the child to try!! Anyway, we're well on our way to a successful, fun series of classes. Thanks again!