Skateboards are a classic sports
item which have been popular since the 80’s and 90’s and continue to be so with
children and teenagers. In most towns you will find at least one skate park,
where kids go to learn new skills and tricks, and get together with other
skateboarders. For many children skateboarding will be something they want to
get into from a young age and you should always encourage them.
Skateboarding is great for
physical fitness and can also be a lot of fun. With older children and
teenagers it often helps them to identify with a youth subculture and start
‘fitting in’ and deciding who they are. On top of this, extreme sports such as
skateboarding are now recognised sports and if your child becomes a pro they
may find that they have a job for life!
Before any of this, though, you
need to help your child to start from the beginning. This means getting a
skateboard and the appropriate equipment. When it comes to buying a skateboard,
your child may already have specific ideas about what they want, but you are
basically looking for a lightweight board which your child will be able to
manage easily. More importantly, when starting out your child will need to wear
safety equipment, as in their first few weeks of skateboarding they can expect
to fall over a lot! Make sure you get them a good quality helmet which will
protect their heads, as well as elbow pads. Knee pads are not particularly
necessary unless they are trying ramps or tricks - which they shouldn’t be straight
away. Even more important, pick up some good quality skate shoes to help them
along. Skating isn’t impossible in standard trainers or converse, but it isn’t
far off it. Skate shoes will give you a great grip on the board and are wider
so that you feel more stable when skating. With these, your child should start
to do much better straight away.
Once your child is properly
kitted out, start by teaching them to stand on the board, with the board set on
some carpet or on grass. This will hold the board steadier and allow your child
to get used to the feeling of the board under their feet. It can be an odd
sensation to begin with, and they should feel completely steady on the board
before they head onto concrete. Let them jump onto the board, stand on it in
different positions and so on - this is the only way to get used to it and will
help when they actually start to skate.
