Finally, the time came to teach skateboard to kids. As a parent, it’s your responsibility to guide them in the right way with proper safety precautions.
Therefore, in this article, we’ll educate you about how to skateboard for kids, even if you don’t know anything about skateboard.
But, before you start teaching skateboard to your kids, make sure they are at least 5 years old. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) also recommends not giving skateboards to kids under 5. Because the bones and muscles of a kid under 5 are not well developed to sustain an easy fall from a skateboard.
All right, now let’s see how to teach a kid to skateboard.
How To Skateboard For Kids
The first thing you’ve to do as a parent has the proper gear for your kid; skateboarding is unsafe without this. Despite this, skateboarding is fun.
Skateboard Gears Include:
- Helmet
- Knee Pads & Elbow Pads
- Wrist guards
- Skateboard Shoes
- Quality Skateboard
Why we list quality skateboards? We’ve seen many parents buying a skateboard from a local toy shop. If you’re serious about skateboarding for your kids, never go with that cheap one. It breaks in a weak or two while riding, which keeps your kid in danger.
It’s better to go with a decent quality skateboard that costs $70 and up. For a better idea, you can prefer our newly published article on how to choose a skateboard.
Well enough! Now let’s see how to teach child to skateboard.
Where To Teach?
Before you start teaching, find a grass area where you can guide skateboard to your kid. Also, carpet or rug will be a good alternative.
How To Stand?
Just command your kid to stand on a skateboard and push further to identify which leg they use to try and which to stand.
After that, teach them to stand with a pushing leg back and standing leg in front. Ensure their feet should be near the trucks’ bolts and leave them to get comfortable by standing.
How To Start Riding?
Before you teach riding, make your kid’s knee bend a little, it helps maintain a controlled stance. It takes time to habit this posture, so let them keep surfing on a skateboard daily with the same pose.
While riding keep your hand on the back of the kid and hold their arm for support. Repeat this daily unless they are ready to ride alone. Once they are prepared, you can stay close and watch them ride.
How To Push A Skateboard?
Guide your kid to put a front foot or suitable one on the front bolts of trucks, and let all the body weight on the front foot.
After this posture, let them make one or two pushes with the back foot and let them keep practicing.
Once you teach the basics of riding a skateboard, show them a video of other skaters, they will learn new tricks with themself. That’s all you have to do as a parent.
How To Fall?
Yes, you heard right, falling from a skateboard is an art that your kids should know. Even pro skaters fall a lot, but they know how to fall to prevent their body parts from rocks and irregular surfaces.
Teach this to your kids:
- If you feel you’re falling, try to land on a fleshy part of your body.
- When you lose control while riding, don’t panic and crouch down ( Bend knees and lower yourself to the ground, and lean forward ) so you don’t fall far away.
- Practice falling on grass or soft surface.
Bonus Tips For Parents
So you’ve gone through how to teach a toddler to skateboard without any experience. Still, we’ve some more tips for you to make your kids a pro riders with safety.
Always stay close to your kid while riding because kids nature is to learn anything faster and are attracted to crazy tricks though they try to perform them and harm themself. Here your presence is significant to stop them from doing these stunts unless they’ve practiced enough with the basics.
If your kid forgets to practice skateboarding, make them remind, because skateboarding is all about practicing. If they skip one day, you’ll see the impact on performance on the next day. So it’s better to practice daily or make a routine of at least once or twice a week.
If your kid is not performing well, don’t force or don’t angry. As a skater, I know how much time it takes to learn a single skateboard trick. Remember, your kid will learn everything you want him to, but it takes time and lots of practice, so be calm and keep patience.
For more tips and tricks, you can check out here.
FAQs
The age that a child should start skateboarding depends on the individual and their maturity level. Beginner level skateboarders should start as young as 4-5 years old. Before this age, the skills needed to maneuver a skateboard properly needed to be developed more.
The best skateboard for beginners is a mini-cruiser. These skateboards are smaller and easier to maneuver, making them perfect for younger children.
They are also lightweight, making them easier to carry around. It is also important to make sure it’s made of wood, as this will help make sure that the board is durable and can withstand the wear and tear of a beginner skateboarder.
When teaching a 9 year old to skate, it’s important to start slow and build their confidence in the sport. Before that, ensure they get the right size and quality skateboard.
Teach them the basics of standing on the board and balancing while pushing off the ground. Once they have the basics down, teach them basic tricks like ollies and kickflips.
As they become more comfortable on their board, introduce them to different terrains like ramps and rails. Along the way, make sure to praise them for their successes and provide encouragement when they make mistakes. Skateboarding can be an intimidating sport for some kids, so make sure to take it slow and have fun with it.
The answer to this question is entirely up to the individual. Skating regular or goofy simply depends on which feels more comfortable and natural when pushing off the ground. Some people find that regular, where they push off with their left foot, feels more natural, while others feel better pushing off goofy with their right foot. It’s important to experiment and determine which works best for you.
For a beginner, it’s best to have a short skateboard, as these are easier to maneuver. Longer skateboards provide more stability and require less effort to push off the ground, but they can be harder to control. Once you become more familiar with skateboarding and gain confidence, it’s then time to switch to a longer board.
Wrap Up
Skateboarding is a fun and rewarding activity for kids of all ages. It provides an outlet for exercise and creativity and helps them develop balance, coordination, and agility.
With the proper safety gear and some basic instruction, kids can quickly progress from beginner to intermediate skateboarders.
We hope you got proper guidance on how to skateboard for kids. If you’ve any queries related to kids skateboarding, feel free to ask in below comment box.
I am James Buckridge, the founder of skateboardidea.com. Skateboarding is my passion, and I have years of teaching experience in this field. Our vision and mission is to provide you with accurate information on everything related to skateboarding. Catch me on Twitter & Pinterest.