My newest student is not quite two yet, and obviously can't skate, nor does she want to push the chair that we typically use in our snowbunny classes. We've been playing a game where I spread out some duckies and she goes to get them (while I'm holding her up) and she puts them in her chair. I try to get her to "take the duckies for a ride" in her chair but she doesn't fall for it. Does anyone have any good ideas for getting her to try to skate while holding onto the chair, any tricks?

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- Ashley

I don't know if this would help but my daughter started skating at Tiny Tots which is for 3-6 yr olds. Some of the things they get them to do is play ring-a-ring-a-rosy to get them used to falling down, and getting back up, and to get them to move they often use balloons. Being that they're light, they can throw them up into the air, and then try to move to catch them. Works a treat with those kids, so maybe that might help with this little one.

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AW1
mum to Miss Lil (6yrs old)
mum to be to #2 due in March 08

Hire a 3yo assistant? My kids were always more adventurous with a slightly older playmate. Can you draw on the ice? Maybe taking the duckies for a ride would be more appealing if she was taking them to the ice cream shop and setting each one down next to an ice cream cone you had drawn on the ice - or something like that.

I had a student the same age a few years back. The problem is that kids who aren't even two years old yet usually lack the gross motor skills to be able to march on the ice--their progress is substantially slower than that of bigger kids with better motor skills. After a year of lessons, the best she could do was march and then fall over.

I've found that the littlest kids often like chasing something that's close by. Put some stickers on the chair and ask her to get them. Put a favorite stuffed animal on the chair and tell her that the stuffed animal wants to go to the other side of the rink: can she push him there?

IMHO, the best thing the family can do is to wait until the child is slightly older before putting her on the ice. Her parents are paying a lot for lessons even though she won't show progress until her own development catches up to what's needed for basic ice skating.

Don't hold her up. She can't learn what balancing on skates feels like if you do. Instead, bend over and stand beside her. Take her hand closer to you in your farther hand (if she's on your R, take her L hand with your R) and put your nearer hand at the small of her back to keep her from going over backwards. Then march with her. This way, she will be able to feel when she is balanced and when she is not, and still be quite safe.

As Bothcoasts said, it's entirely possible that she does not yet have the muscle tone and/or strength to do this. In that case, assuming she is in a class, the best you can do is try to have fun with her. Get some washable markers and draw shapes on the ice for her to skate to (with help), or let her draw while sitting on the ice (keep the caps, so they don't go in her mouth). I use stuffed animals with the tots. Sometimes I have them put the animals onto one of the red dots one at a time, then we skate around them, then put them back one at a time. You can also have her throw the animals. If you have a plush ball, and she can stand up and march a little, play ball with her by passing the ball back and forth (don't really throw it except for maybe a few inches).

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We colored, but then that was ALL she wanted to do! lol Thanks for the tips everyone! She is certainly not afraid to be on the ice nor to sit on it, we just got to get her feet moving!

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- Ashley

I definitely agree with the posters who mentioned the possibility that she may not yet have the physical strength required to keep herself on her feet (well, her blades). My daughter was 3 before she had that much strength and control. Our tot classes always spend 5 min or so marching and squatting off-ice before getting on the ice. Can she/will she do that?

That was exactly my thought!
It would seem to me that the child is not ready yet, so why force it?
I'd bring the matter up to the parents and gently suggest they pull her out of class for a while until she's a bit older.

Oh, and a question, have the parents ever been on the ice with her?

She's probably not physically ready yet. I "teach" (really, I take her around the rink a few times after her sisters' lessons so she doesn't just sit in the rink for an hour) an almost two year-old, and there's no way she would be able to skate without me fully holding her up.

I used to teach a Mommy & Me class, and I have seen two year olds who could stand up right away without any help and begin marching with just a l ittle help. It is very individual. I've also seen four year olds who did not have the muscle tone and strength.

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and once again I'm not a coach, but as a parent, I can vouch for dbny's comments there. My daugther was crawling at 4.5 months and walking (actually running) by 9 months so by the time she was 2 she had much more advanced muscle tone than most kids her age and was able to do cartwheels and somersaults by herself. It is very individual.

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AW1
mum to Miss Lil (6yrs old)
mum to be to #2 due in March 08

Yes, her whole family skates, so that's why they want her to learn how. She's going through that 2-year-old phase so she listens to me better than her parents.

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- Ashley

Doesnt mean at age 2, anyone is ready for lessons. They might be interested, they might want to, but they might not be EMOTIONALY mature enough to be taught.My kids both walked at 9 months too, but they couldnt have been taught how to ice skate at that age.No ATTENTION span !!!
I would have fun, sit on the ice ect, but to be honest I think its a waste of money for real lessons at 2.
This comes from a parent who had two kids skating at age 3., and privates by age 4.When I started posted that here almost 3 years ago, people thought I was daft even then. So, Im very pro young skater, but ONLY for some kids.In fact, it takes kids less time to learn something at 7 that is takes years for a 4 year old to learn.

I understand what you're saying twokidsskatemom. My point being that everyone is different has been proven by your mention of your kids walking at 9 months.

My daughter was in what we call preschool at age 2 because she was as mentally advanced as the 4 and 5 year olds at her child care centre. My daughter may be the exception to the rule I don't know but this is why I say that it's very individual and to say that they are not ready as a blanket statement may not be correct.

My daughter has been skating for 9 months and just last week mastered the moves to do her final test before moving to Freestyle Level 1 here, so given she's not even 5 yet she's doing remarkably well.

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AW1
mum to Miss Lil (6yrs old)
mum to be to #2 due in March 08

We didn't do formal lessons in the Mommy & Me classes. We played kids' songs, played games with the kids, played with stuffed animals and little inflated penguins, played ball, and let them draw with washable markers. It was all fun and games, but wearing real figure skates on the ice. I have met maybe one child who could have taken a real lesson in anything at the age of two.

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I think that approach is great!!
Im not sure what is in your fs level 1, but an early learner in a few years is caught up with kids that start later.Imo the only advantage in skating early is the experience they get , from being on the ice in front of others.
Skating wise, they only have certain muscles and can only do so much.

Wow, that's quite a problem you got. My 2-year-old brother doesn't really enjoy to skate or anything, but he holds on to my hand and he just...skates.

I don't think a child younger than two is just "mature" enough to understand at all...

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- Aleksa

Hm, maybe the skating bug hasn't bit... skating might just not be her thing... I wouldn't force it especially not this early on... but then that's me and I know that not all parents think that way, unfortunately and I guess maybe that't the case with her parents.

I was going to say that. Tell the family to come back when she is older, she just isn't able to do it. It mighteven save them some medical bills. Starting a kid that young won't make them the next Sasha Cohen, it might actually do more harm.

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AW1, I was interested in your comment re the Freestyle 1, as (I *think*) we don't have that in Aussieskate in NSW? Does VicISA use a different testing regime? In any event, well done to your 4 year old! (I just looked up the Aussieskate handbook to see that I could not yet pass Basic 2 as I can't do a proper Snowplow stop "with good form" using both feet at once...give me a T-stop any day!!) (::blush:: )

I am pretty sure that Aussie Skate is Aussie Skate wherever you are. She needs to complete her Aussie Skate Stroking test before she can move to Freestyle Level 1 (which isn't in Aussie Skate). Her coach is not yet testing her since she said once she goes into Freestyle 1 there's no Aussie Skate lessons for her and the testing becomes alot more expensive (about $70 per pop from what I was told). Her coach still teaches her the more advanced stuff (ie she can do spirals, spins, lunges etc which are in Ballet & Spin levels and she's learning some more jumps) in her private lessons so she said there's no point putting her in FS1 for the sake of it. Bless her, she's trying to save me money!

Actually at Summer Trophy this year there was a 5 or 6 year old from South Australia who was in Prelim!

I understand your snowplough stop frustration - I passed that by sheer fluke I am certain. However I'm in Intermediate in Aussie Skate and my daughter passed me a long time ago

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AW1
mum to Miss Lil (6yrs old)
mum to be to #2 due in March 08