I am looking for creative and fun ideas to enhance the learn to skate for all levels, especially tot up through FS 1 or 2. THe little ones love to play games, but the 6th - 8th grade and such seem to be a little more on the attitude side, so anything idea -wise for them would have to be something not baby-ish.

Or, also just some exercises that would strenghthen their skills. THanks.

I feel i am doing a good job, but just need a little "outside the box" creativity along with the discipline of "exercises". THanks!

Older kids - races that use skills. My last class of each session usually includes a "Wacky Relay" where they have to skate forward, snowplow stop, and skate backward to return. Sometimes, I set up cones and make them "ski" through them to reach the wall, then return. I'll even make them pick up the cone and bring it back to the next person, who replaces it on the other side.

I also do "limbo" using a hockey stick handle. Do it on a circle, so they have to skate alllll the way around to get back to start -- otherwise, you get a pileup of kids waiting to go under the stick. Reinforces deep knee bends and stretched arm positions. (I always "spot" the newbies, in case they fall backwards.)

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I'm assuming you're talking about 12-14 year olds learning to skate? If not, these are fun things to do with anybody.

We play soccer (football) on ice a lot just to get the kids moving without thinking about how awkward they are. I've got one of those rubbery soccer balls (now covered in duct tape) so it isn't affected much by toepicks.

For the star-dazzled figure skating types we play add-a-long. Someone does a trick, you have to do that one and add your own, then next person does the sequence and adds one on until someone collapses in laughter. I try to organize the kids in a line unobtrusively in order of ability so that no one starts off with something difficult. Its fun and it makes kids perform in front of others.
( I know when I do this on my own session, not to get lined up behind a certain person, because they always do a move that I can't do)

I find that kids are shy about not being able to skate and they see those little tots flying by and are intimidated terribly.

We also play really loud music, if I can get away with it. Then we do basic stroking and two foot turning exercises to that. We also spend a lot of time doing stops, because being able to do a total snow flying hockey stop is a cool thing. The goal: to catch up to and snow the head coach. Lucky he's a good sport about it.

I was teaching a Sam 1 class last night where only three young lads showed up. My co-coach was working with two of them while I tried to motivate the third to skate. He's 3-1/2 and can skate fairly well for a beginner on hockey skates WHEN HE WANTS TO. That's the key with this youngster.

After 10 minutes of not getting him going, I challenged him to a game of hockey with make believe sticks. I used my marker and drew "nets" on the ice (a square with cross hatch). That got him going as well as the other two who joined in the game. He skated back and forth for the next 15 minutes shooting his imaginary puck at each end.

The funny part was every time he shot a goal, he'd throw his arms in the air, yell "goal", and promptly fall on his butt. He'd jump back up and repeat the same thing at the other end.

While we didn't get them to learn much in skills, we did get them skating.

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