Ressurecting this thread because I think I need help/advice. I haven't taught tots in a few years. I just started teaching again this year and it's been mostly Basic 4 type skaters, which has been great fun. But another LTS school now has me teaching tots, and I think I'll be with them the rest of the session. Today I had 3 little boys (3 and 4 years old) who absolutely could NOT stand up. One was in rental hockey skates and his feet were everywhere, one was in rental figure and he did the best of the three, and one was in his own hockey skates. The rental figure boy could eventually get up on his own and stand and even march a little, the other two couldn't even march in place without falling. I spent a lot of time picking them up. I'm not sure what will be able to do with them. We tried the sit down and get up a lot, but the hockey skates boys were just all over the place. I did tell the rental hockey kid's mom that he would probably be able to stand/balance better in figure skates if she's going to continue to get him rentals. But if I can't even get them to stand up in place to march, what can I do with them? Any advice???

__________________
"Where are we going and why are we in this handbasket?"

How is it that they are falling? Are they wobbling all over the place with their upper bodies? Do they reach for the ice when they start to tip? How long can they stand up for?

I tell my students to stand "still like a statue" and "freeze! Don't move a muscle!" I sometimes throw in a Statue of Liberty reference to keep them thinking about stillness. That seems to work better than telling them to stand up straight or stop flailing. Some of the really wee ones don't have the best physical control at that age, too, so it might just be a little bit of getting used to the balance. I have found that boys tend to be worse than the girls, coordination-wise.

If they tend to look down, ask them what color their eyes are - "I can't see your eyes, what color are they? Are they (insert silly color like orange)?" - and then ask them if they can see what color my eyes are.

You might want to start the beginning of class off-ice. I'm sure they can stand up and walk in their skates off-ice (if they don't, you have a bigger problem ). Have them stand in a gliding position. Put their arms out. Bend the knees - make them do little squats and then stand up straight. If the floor isn't too filthy, have them sit and get up. And keep telling them that the ice isn't no different. The same things you do on the floor, you do on the ice to keep from falling.

With tots, the learning curve is amazing. Some kids I think will NEVER do anything are off like a shot a few weeks in. They may surprise you yet.

They were falling both ways you described, wobbly upper bodies and then reaching for the ice as they went forward. I really couldn't get them to stand for more than say, 5-10 seconds or so. Not long enough to really get them to try to march. I had two of them fall close to each other and one almost got hit in the face with the other one's blades, luckily I was able to grab his skate!

I think trying to start the class off ice will help, I will try that if the skating director lets me. They only have 25 minutes of lesson time.....that felt like the longest 25 minutes of my life on Sunday! THanks, Vesper!! Any other advice is appreciated.

__________________
"Where are we going and why are we in this handbasket?"

Oh, I totally forgot - do you have anything that they can hold on to? Cones, walker things? In both the tots classes I have had, they all start out using cones. Then I space out the cones on a circle and have them skate from cone to cone. Eventually they get confident enough to not use them, but the first few weeks are really cone-heavy.

I always have/ask for assistants if there's a lot of floppy skaters.

FWIW, I occasionally use cones at the end of class, when they're getting a bit tired. It helps them get through the end of a 30 m. class - 20 minutes is much better for little ones.

I've found that kids in this area tend to get attached to the cone if you start them off with it right away. Then, whenever they go skating, they want a cone. The parents love it because they don't have to hold the kids up. Bad news is, it contributes to scootering because they can't learn to march with the cone. I don't have access to the walker things - we don't use them because of tripping that occurred at other rinks. I would think that the walkers would be better since you CAN get them to march.

Always start beginner tot classes off-ice with falling down and getting up. They'll get dirty, but it's much easier to reteach on the ice than to try and teach it for the first time.

On ice, I sit the little ones on the ice in a big circle to start. We do stretches and spin around on our tushies so we can see how slippery the ice is, but it doesn't bite. (No ice alligators here!) Then, we practice falling down and getting up several times. (I help them fall.)

Next comes marching with tiny steps. I add a "tick tock" sound to it and then a "shhhh!" teaches them to glide with "quiet feet."

If anyone falls during class, they get a quick spin on the ice from me, which changes frowns to giggles.

Mandatory: helmets, ski pants, and gloves/mittens. I won't let a kid on the ice without them.
(I put my own helmet in the car, so I'll remember to start using it myself.)

I had a beginner this weekend that was on hockey skates.
After the lesson, the mom and I laughed about what a workout the helmet received!

Our staff recommends using figure skates for at least the first LTS session (10 wks) and then switching over to hockey skates.
A beginner has to learn to balance side-to-side on either type of blade.
A beginner on hockey skates has to learn to control the front-to-back balance much more than a skater on figure blades.
The hockey blade is more curved than a figure blade, which is why many hockey players struggle with figure skates - they're used to being able to use the front of their blades.

__________________

As Isk8NYC said, hockey skates are much harder to learn in, and I always recommend starting in figure skates. You could also check the sizes the kids are wearing, as most people don't know to get skates a size smaller than the street shoe. Put large skates together with loose lacing and hockey blades, and you've got a lot of time sitting on the ice.

I always start my beginners off ice. I begin with posture, including arms & hands (in front like driving a truck, or on the table pushing down). Then we "march" by picking up the knees. I always tell them not to even think about their feet, just pick up the knees. Next is what to do if you're falling (grab knees). I finish the off ice lesson with falling (from hands on knees position) and getting up. It takes about 5 to 10 minutes depending on the number of students and is well worth it. It also gives you a chance to spot any problems with boots and laces before you get on the ice with the kids.

__________________