Teach Your Child How to Skateboard

Skateboarders have enjoyed this sport since sometime in the late 1950’s. When the first skateboard was invented it was homemade and skateboarding was actually called “Sidewalk Surfing, Edue to the period and the popularity of surfing. Controversy grew over the popularity of skateboarding as it began to be a problem when kids were skateboarding at malls and local parks causing havoc to others enjoying the areas. However, skateboarders and the industry alike had more to bargain with, as this sport was considered one of the most dangerous sports children participated in.

Skateboarding can be a lot of fun for children, yet the sport can be extremely dangerous; therefore, it is important that your children always wear protective gear when skateboarding, even if they consider themselves a pro. Protective gear includes a helmet with a chin guard, hand gloves, kneepads, and elbow pads. Many experts advise that children also wear skateboarding shoes, as the soles of these shoes are much wider for a batter stance on the board itself.

Grades K-3rd
With skateboarding being a particularly dangerous sport, it is recommended that skaters begin to learn closer to the age of seven because of the extreme balance and dexterity it takes to ride a skateboard. Just like roller-skating or bike riding, parents should be very close by when children take to the skateboard for the first time.

Instead of a hard surface, encourage your child to learn how to stand on the board on something more comfortable like grass or carpet. Have your child simply get comfortable with the board. Have them jump on it, balance on it and pretend to be riding it. Until they seem to have a good grasp of this concept, don’t allow them to move forward to the next step. They should figure out during this task if they will be using the goofy stance (skating with your right foot forward) or the regular stance (skating with your left foot forward.) Whichever they feel most comfortable with is the stance that will work best for them.

Once they have conquered the act of balance and feeling comfortable standing on the board, take them outside to a surface they can ride on. Allow them to hold your hand while they wheel around a few times to get an understanding of balancing and riding, this might take a while for your children to complete this task.

Main points to address:

• Be with your child as they learn.
• Have them get comfortable with standing on the board on a safe surface.
• Be sure they know which stance to use.

Grades 4th-6th
Once your children know how to stand on a skateboard, can balance well, and know the best stance for their footing, they can move on to learning how to push off or move the board. With their front footing set, they should take their back leg and set it firmly on the ground, using their toes all they have to do is push forward. Place their foot back on the back of the board; they may need to continue working with this action for a while

Main points to address:

• Teach them how to push off or move the board and how to stop.
• Go over carving to keep the board going.
• Show small tricks they can learn easy.

Resources
Resources that can help you in your venture include:

• Skateboard – http://www.skateboard.com/
• Skateboarding – http://www.skateboarding.com
• Safe Skateboarding – http://www.safesport.co.uk/SafeSkateboarding.html

A list of links to other skateboarding sites

• Kids Turn Central – http://www.kidsturncentral.com/links/xsportlinks.htm

Posted in Leisure.

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