How To Make A PVC Skating Aid

Joe Proulx Backyard Rinks, Pond Hockey

For all the joys associated with teaching a kid to skate — the shrieks of happiness, the “I’m doing it” look — there are certain pains as well. Namely the aches in one’s back and knees after spending two hours bending at the waist to hold onto tiny hands as they wobble around on miniature Bauers. So instead of volunteering your vertebrae to bear the brunt of Slugger’s wobbly weight, why not drop $11 and 15 minutes of your time and build a PVC skating aid? Bonus — your hands are free to hold the video camera.

The Parts

My receipt for the entire purchase was south of $12 using 1-1/4″ PVC.

  • About 20′ of 1-1/4″ PVC
  • 6 90-degree elbows (Amazon)
  • 2 45-degree slip connectors (Amazon)
  • 4 slip t-connectors (Amazon)
  • PVC cleaner and glue (Amazon)



    • The Build

    You’ll need to cut the PVC into several lengths. For young kids (4-6 years old), I used these sizes:

    A – 4 pieces at 30″ each
    B – 2 pieces at 26″ each
    C – 2 pieces at 14.5″ each
    D – 4 pieces at 6″ each
    E – 2 pieces at 4″ each

    Don’t be too freaked out if one is a slightly different length. I eyeballed most of my cuts and cut them using a table saw that was not made for PVC. It still works.

    From there, it’s just a matter of looking at the pictures below and putting it all together.

    Some hints:

  • I did NOT use glue the first time I built this. I put it together and let some kids use it to make sure it was the right size. Once I was confident, I took it apart one junction at a time and glued it.
  • Feel free to experiment with different sizes or pipe diameters. My oldest is five and his friends are the primary users of this, so this worked for me. But PVC is cheap, so play around with the design and see how it works with your skaters.
  • Make sure you double-check the parts you’re buying before you leave the store. Those PVC part bins always have rogue pieces that are the wrong size, or have threaded parts in with the slip connectors.



    • And that’s it! If you take your time, this should take a half hour to build. I actually took it apart to take the pictures above, then put it back together in about five minutes.

    Any questions, register on the Backyard-Hockey.com Forums and ask away!

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