Ice Skating Lessons

Good for him! My son took figure skating lessons for years and loved it. You do not have to learn to skate and if you decide to try wait until your son has moved up a few levels, you will progress faster than him and you sure don't want to pass him. Put him in some nice warm sweats, don't dress him so he can't move. Gloves are good but he will warm up from working to stay upright. He will need a helmet. Some places will let you use a bike helmet but a hockey helmet is way better protection. And most important do NOT get cheap skates. I can not stress this enough. Make sure you have something with good ankle support, it makes all the difference in the world. And don't forget when they get tight they can be stretched, length and width. They don't have to be new, just not broken down. As he skates and you get to know people see if you can buy someone's used skates from them. Kids go through sizes pretty quickly when they are small and you may get lucky. If they are girl's you can color them. Have fun!!!

Do you have any local ice rinks? That's the best place to start. How old is he? I'm a huge advocate for wearing a helmet... I come from a family of hockey players, myself included... I STILL wear a helmet on the ice!!

Usually, here in VA, it's warm enough in the summer to wear short sleeves and jeans when skating! In the winter, I'd wear jeans and a long sleeve shirt and a hoodie (and bring a hat and gloves). You don't want too many layers, since you get so darn hot out there! Oh, and nice thick socks too.

Ice skating and roller blading are 2 totally different worlds, BUT, boys are naturally quick physical learners!! I hope he has fun and catches on quickly!!

My son wears snow pants over his pants, thick socks, a shirt or two and a fleece jacket and a hat...as well as gloves. If you fall it does not hurt as bad if you have on gloves and snow pants. I assume you will just rent the skates. My son and I both prefer the hockey skates to the figure skates. They are easier for some reason. You should get out there too! It's always good to learn a new thing. We never did lessons. My son started off holding my hand and shuffling along (me shuffling too bc I did not grow up ice skating and am not good at it). He walked at first...very slowly. Then he started pushing with one foot and gliding (while holding my hand to stay up). The next day he was ice skating on his own...it took 3 days. He now beats the pants off me - he zooms around like a bullet and can even go backwards. :) Have fun!!

Start at a rink b/c the ice will be smooth and he won't have to dress as warm - be frozen out as can happen when you're outside. Also - they rent skates there so you don't have to buy them.

As a young girl I wore the white figure skates.. but in college I wore hockey skates and I would recommend hockey skates... much easier to skate in.

Go to the local rink and check into lessons. They usually sell them in a package or session, and it should include skate rental. They can tell you what else he should wear.
If you have never been ice skating then the two of you will probably just pull each other down, which would be dangerous for both of you, so I don't recommend that! It's a LOT different than roller skating, IMO. Maybe you could take lessons too :)

Hi E., call the Ice box in Lincoln. They can put you in contact with the local skating clubs or hockey clubs. We just had a hockey tournament there last weekend and it was through the Lincoln Hockey club. I think this is their website. http://www.lincolnhockey.org/ That would be a good place to start. We started our boys in Omaha when they were 3 and they love it. If you have questions, you can contact me. Good luck to you.