Sorry for all of the new posts today.. just have a lot of questions with the new rink

We have a lot of friends & neighbors with little kids who want to try skating, but haven't ever been on ice before. We want them to have fun & learn how to do it.. but also want to make sure everyone is safe. Our rink doesn't have any side-boards.. so nothing really for them to hold on to as they're getting around the ice.

I'm thinking we might want to have a couple of "trainers" on hand to help out the little ones. I've seen 3 options..

PVC made into a walker type device
3/4 Inch Pipe bent with a conduit bender (Video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mP94e0ud1s)
Orange Construction Cones to be pushed around (about $15 a pop)

Any other suggestions - or opinions on what works best for the money?

Thanks!
Erin

In my opinion, the best ones are these ones (or anything similar to this):



Personally, I loathe the traffic pylons. I taught both my girls to skate when they were 4 and we started on bob-skates and worked our way onto the above. It gives them the support they need and it's easier on our backs. Pylons don't travel along the ice as nice and they are in the way of the child's stride. I remember going skating with my daughters' elementary classes and watching these poor kids try to learn to skate on pylons. Basically, they just ended up being pylons (little hockey joke there).

Just my two cents,
Kevin

Thanks again Kevin.. those were what I was leaning towards as well. That video I posted above shows a guy who makes one in about 4 minutes using some 3/4 inch pipe and a conduit bender... costs less then $5 to make per his video. Just wish I knew someone local with a Conduit bender - but I think we'll figure it out either way.

I agree about the traffic pylons - the local rink always had a few you could use, so my son (age 3 at the time) would push one around.. i would let him because carrying him around KILLED my back. But, he never really learned how to skate until we got rid of it and made him stand up & figure out how to balance on his own.

e

I actually have a post about this on the blog:

http://www.backyard-hockey.com/2012/01/ ... ating-aid/

I have to start paying more attention to the 'How To' page at backyard-hockey.com