How Ice Skating Benefits Your Child
Ice skating is more than just playing and gliding on ice. It’s a great exercise that your child will surely enjoy while strengthening his or her muscles. Besides it being a challenging fitness routine, taking ice skating lessons with your family is also a wonderful way to bond together while having fun.
Avoiding Injuries
You may be anxious about allowing your child to skate. Indeed, falling is a necessary part of learning to skate, and parents want to protect their children from injury as best as possible. But with proper guidance from your chosen sports academy and by taking the necessary precautions, you can help your child learn how to skate well while minimizing risk and keeping them safe.
The best way to avoid injuries is to wear the proper ice skating gear:
- Helmet – When ice skating, wearing a helmet is important since your child will be gliding over the ice at potentially high speeds and with poor balance which may cause him or her to fall, especially in the initial stages.
- Ice Skates – Make sure that skates fit properly to support your child’s ankles. Laces should also be tied correctly to avoid falls.
- Knee and Elbow Pads – For further protection, knee and elbow pads are also a good idea. In case of a fall, these can significantly lessen the impact.
- Gloves – Besides keeping your child warm, gloves also protect his or her fingers from possible injury.
With proper training and equipment, injuries can be easily avoided. Now that you know how to keep your child safe when ice skating, your child should be ready to experience this fun sport and enjoy the following benefits ice skating can deliver.
1. It improves focus
Besides school and learning programs such as spring, summer and winter camps, ice skating improves a child’s focus. Even the most active kids will summon their powers to pay attention because of their willingness to learn the sport.
Losing focus while on ice is definitely not an option if you don’t want to end up falling on your bottom. Just like meditation, the child forces himself or herself to ignore all distractions. Once the child masters the need to focus, it’ll be easier for him or her to balance on the slippery ice.
2. It builds confidence
Ice skating will teach your child to get up every time he or she falls. This persistence will carry over from the ice skating rink into your child’s day-to-day endeavors. By learning to never give up in order to learn the sport, your child will be able to build his or her confidence and perseverance.
3. It involves fitness for the entire family
Ice skating doesn’t only keep your child engaged, but your whole family as well. Since it’s open to all levels, you and your children can skate in one place without the skill separation that other sports necessitate. With various styles like speed skating and figure skating, everyone in the family can participate how they want within the rink.
4. It’s a fun outdoor sport
Once your child learns to skate, winter will be gladly welcomed. You can simply visit an outdoor rink in your location and get fit while having fun. Plus, with the occasional gust of wind and hard ice, an outdoor skating session would be a much better workout than one done indoors.
5. It develops athletes
After your child masters the basics, he or she can pursue ice skating as a serious sport to participate in. He or she can learn how to spin, dance and spiral on ice or move into a sport such as ice hockey or ringette. You never know, your child may be the next figure or speed skater in the Winter Olympics!
6. It strengthens leg muscles
Even if your child can’t run fast, he or she can still skate fast. Ice skating uses the leg muscles differently compared to running. And since ice skating focuses on lower body movement, it’s a great exercise for building and toning leg muscles over time.
7. It promotes joint health
Through synchronized movements and gliding of the legs, the joints get a great workout and become flexible. Ice skating works out each major muscle group in your child’s body which makes this sport very beneficial to the body on a whole.
8. It enhances mental fitness
When kids do something fun, it makes them happy. The environment of ice skating as well as the companionship of friends and family help the child unwind from stress. Ice skating is not only good for the body but for the mind as well.
With so many benefits mentioned above, there’s no reason for you not to let your child spin and have fun on the ice. Risks are a given in any sport, but the ways a child learns and becomes stronger because of it are what really matter. Let your child grow fit, healthy and happy by letting him or her partake in the fun and thrilling world of ice skating.
