bobby12 0 Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 My son just turned 3. We are going skiing this weekend but I was planning to just use the kidspark and do soli (Sledging). Is it too early to teach him to ski? Anyone here have first hand experiences or tips for me? Link to post Share on other sites
snowdude 44 Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 We first introduced our daughter to skiing at about age 3 going onto 4 I think it was. We put her in a kids ski school for a couple of hours, where she basically played with the other children and intructor, while learning to balance and simply slide. She had a great time from it and after that was hooked. I think it is very important that your child enjoys his first experience skiing if you choose that. I would recommend using a ski school that have qualified instructors specially dealing with small children. From general comments from others don't try to teach him yourself, often it ends up a failure, so I have been told! Just turned 3 means he still may not have good balance and wont have any concept about skiing or what it is about, this is why it is very important to have him play while trying to ski as apposed to teaching him directly, thus a good ski school may be the best option. Not only this you can get an indication as to whether or not he likes it or is even ready to try skiing, before you go out and buy all the gear, which by the next year will be no good anyway as he would have most probably out grown them unless you buy larger than needed sizes, which is what we do for our daughter, then will last for 2 seasons, skis included! Forgot to add, it is surprising how much one year makes to a child and two years makes a huge difference. If he doesn't seem to like skiing or doesn't get on well this year, don't worry, next year could be quite different. Also children become ready at different things at different times. Link to post Share on other sites
bobby12 0 Posted January 28, 2009 Author Share Posted January 28, 2009 ok nice. i think i will just do sledging this year and let him enjoying sliding and also observing the big kids using skis. he turns 4 next winter so maybe then ill put him in ski school if we still in japan then. Link to post Share on other sites
oblivion 5 Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 Where are you going bobby12? Link to post Share on other sites
gerard 6 Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 Did you introduce your kids to skiing in Japan, Snowdude? I'd like to know which places have good ski schools like that for kids. Link to post Share on other sites
Youdy 0 Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 This is a bit of a life story but probably relevant or maybe even helpful:P I started water skiing when I was 3 years old. My parents took me every weekend with a few friends(of theirs) up until this day, their friends also had children but there was only me and another girl a year older than me who started this young out of about 15-20 kids i think the youngest now is about 12. A few things Ive noticed is that the children around 5-8 years old start to develop a sense of fear so it is alot easier to learn mentally when they are younger having said that its better to not persist all day long because they'll lose attention and interest quickly and possibly be turned off later on. the kids around 8-10 years old that were not skiing when they were younger either a. pick it up quickly or b. give up because they cant do it and are scared of being embarrassed when their peers can ski I think around half of the children in my family crew were b.s and as a result many do not ski at all today. Also the 2 of us that started when we were 3/4 were very competitive which helped us aswell Link to post Share on other sites
snowdude 44 Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 Originally Posted By: ger Did you introduce your kids to skiing in Japan, Snowdude? I'd like to know which places have good ski schools like that for kids. Yes in Japan I introduced my daughter to skiing, first ski school was in Yamanashi, kitz meadows, the second time was I think Kitashina in Nagano, same year. She has also been to a ski school at Marunuma kogen in Gunma too and at minami kogen. Each time she seemed to have a good time. The better schools give the kids sweets and some badges and even piggy back rides down the slopes too. In a couple of weeks I will be taking my daughter to Yachiho kogen in Nagano, for a lesson, she can get a badge there. I'll let you know how she gets on if we go! I don't know how these compare to other schools for children and not sure whether they are better or worse than others, but they seemed to be nice and the instructors were all very kind and genuinly seemed to enjoy playing and teaching the children to ski. We chose these resorts because these where the areas that we were in at the time. I think as long as you choose any of the family orientated resorts then you should be able to find a good ski school for kids and also play areas too, such as snow slides, or tube rides etc. Nakazato in Yuzawa has a great tube slide, short but fun for both kids and adults, plus both adults and children can ride on a big tube pulled by a snow mobile. Not sure about lessons there though, as we all skied and my daughter didn't have a lesson there. Link to post Share on other sites
Mantas 3 Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 My youngest was 3 and 9 months when he started. Physically he was fine and picked it up straight away but mentally he wasn't quite there. If he was having a bad day and didn't want to ski, he would just flop in the snow and not move. Which made it difficult for us. Other times, when he was in a good mood we would all have a ball. There's no harm in giving him a go. So long as he's enjoying it. Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 Defo start with a ski school. Let them play for 2 hours in the morning and collect them for lunch. Then back to snow fun in the afternoon. Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 Quote: If he was having a bad day and didn't want to ski, he would just flop in the snow and not move Play dead Link to post Share on other sites
bobby12 0 Posted January 30, 2009 Author Share Posted January 30, 2009 ski trip cancelled due to rain! Damn hyogo, it sure ain't nagano Link to post Share on other sites
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