Educating Risa

Both boys had their final ice skating lessons this past weekend. It may seem hard to believe when you look at the pics of ice and snow, but in just 2 short months soccer begins—and it is played on the same field area when this skating ice is! (We registered the boys for soccer today.) Gareth’s parented lessons were first. Here he is (yellow jacket) skating to Jim:

I only caught the last few minutes of Gareth’s lesson. The coach had them practice marching on skates, a good activity for developing balance:

He then sent them on a long skate around the outside of the hockey rink. Here they are on the final turn. By this point Gareth looked pretty tired and was doing little ‘skating’; he was more coasting along as Jim pulled him:

Then it was time for Daegan’s lesson (unparented—though lots of parents remained on skates to help out). They started with a game of ‘catch the coach’, while waiting for kids to get skates on and join them. Daegan is the final kid in the blue jacket and black pants:

The coach had these older kids do lots of different activities. They skated around cones:

The practiced snow-plow stops:

The coach lined them up to practice crossovers, as well as marching (like Gareth’s class):

He had them skate and then crouch, again practicing their balance on ice:

He showed them how to skate backwards, and Daegan can do it! :

But I think the kids’ favourite activity was simply this: ready, set—skate!