Parent and Tot sessions in Toronto ?

[NuggyBuggy 0]

I'm hoping to teach my 3-year old how to skate this year. I just bought him his first pair of skates and a helmet. Had him walking around on the carpet of the house (skates not sharpened yet), and he is pretty wobbly. My plan is to get him to the point where he can walk around on the skates, them take him to a rink for short "skates" until he is comfortable enough in the environment to enroll him in a class.

Anybody know of any parents and tot sessions in the Toronto area ? I checked a bunch of rink websites but couldn't find a parent and tot open session. One of Canlan's rinks has a parent and tot class, but I don't think he's ready for a class yet. We live right downtown but I am willing to drive a bit.

And when teaching young kids how to skate - do they tend to fall forwards or backwards ? I'm wondering whether I should invest in some knee pads for forward falls, elbow pads and hockey pants for backwards falls, or just both.

[Jordan 13]

What part of T.O. do you live in ?

Here is a link to the City Parks programs by region:

City of Toronto, Ice skating

Here is a skating school that is amazing with little ones. It is located at Forest Hill arena, near Bathurst and Eglinton:

Premier Skating

The kids fall either way, but they are so low to the ground, it is really more of a flop. They have so much padding relative to their weight in a pair of snow pants and a ski jacket, that usually does the trick. I think at 3, more padding would make it difficult to move around.

Good luck!

[sabby47 2]

Invest in a helmet over any of the other traditional hockey gear. Like Jordan said, the snowpants and jacket will suffice.

[nickerjones 8]

if you can take pics or vids and post them on here.... i have always had a soft spot when it comes to kids starting sports for the first time...... It makes me wanna force my wife to start babymaking lol!!!

[Goonsquad 209]

Invest in a helmet over any of the other traditional hockey gear. Like Jordan said, the snowpants and jacket will suffice.

+1 get a bucket to protect the future

side note I did get my kid out on the ice when she a little over a year old. I got her a set of double runner strap on's skates and a helmet. for the occasion.. she made it around a couple of times with her holding my hands but eventually caved in. About a month ago she was playing around with a pair of vapor thin socks I use with my skates. She put them on and discover how slippery they were on linoleum and hard wood floors. She spent about an hour sliding around the house. I want to believe that she was born with skating in her genes :lol:

[nickerjones 8]

Invest in a helmet over any of the other traditional hockey gear. Like Jordan said, the snowpants and jacket will suffice.

+1 get a bucket to protect the future

side note I did get my kid out on the ice when she a little over a year old. I got her a set of double runner strap on's skates and a helmet. for the occasion.. she made it around a couple of times with her holding my hands but eventually caved in. About a month ago she was playing around with a pair of vapor thin socks I use with my skates. She put them on and discover how slippery they were on linoleum and hard wood floors. She spent about an hour sliding around the house. I want to believe that she was born with skating in her genes :lol:

is she the one in the picture in your avvy?? she looks like a natural

[Goonsquad 209]

Invest in a helmet over any of the other traditional hockey gear. Like Jordan said, the snowpants and jacket will suffice.

+1 get a bucket to protect the future

side note I did get my kid out on the ice when she a little over a year old. I got her a set of double runner strap on's skates and a helmet. for the occasion.. she made it around a couple of times with her holding my hands but eventually caved in. About a month ago she was playing around with a pair of vapor thin socks I use with my skates. She put them on and discover how slippery they were on linoleum and hard wood floors. She spent about an hour sliding around the house. I want to believe that she was born with skating in her genes :lol:

is she the one in the picture in your avvy?? she looks like a natural

yup.. same one.. shes got strong legs.. and for some reason gets a really smile whenever she sees a hockey stick cross the threshold from the garage to the kitchen. Gets an even bigger grin when she practices her stick handling.

[nickerjones 8]

lol sad thing i bet she will prob be a better skater than me her first time on the ice =)

[NuggyBuggy 0]

Thanks for the replys guys !

What part of T.O. do you live in ?

Here is a link to the City Parks programs by region:

City of Toronto, Ice skating

Thanks Jordan. I live right downtown - didn't even think of the City of Toronto since I only thought of their outdoor rinks. Guessing their 'mini skate' is what I want, at Centennial Arena, which has some nice symmetry as that is where *I* learned to skate ! I've got to find out if I need to enroll or can just walk in, because some of those programs are nearly impossible to get in.

Here is a skating school that is amazing with little ones. It is located at Forest Hill arena, near Bathurst and Eglinton:

Premier Skating

I have heard good things about these guys, and will definitely look into them once my kid is confident enough to be away from me. I am guessing he will be overwhelmed in a class at first so I am trying to ease him into it gently.

Invest in a helmet over any of the other traditional hockey gear. Like Jordan said, the snowpants and jacket will suffice.

Yup, he's got a helmet, although I should have been smarter and bought his younger brother a helmet too - they started fighting over it immediately.

if you can take pics or vids and post them on here.... i have always had a soft spot when it comes to kids starting sports for the first time...... It makes me wanna force my wife to start babymaking lol!!!

Oh, I take thousands of pictures of my kids - I pledged to take at least one of each of them, every day of their life, as long as I could. Unfortunately, I can't see how I am going to take a picture or video of them while I am hunched over holding him up. And my wife will have her arms full with our little one so she is not likely to get out on the ice with us. So sadly, most of my pictures and video will be when he has already learned to do something.

[ktang 34]

Maxipads can be doubled up to protect the tailbone.

[Jordan 13]

Nuggy,

For the City of Toronto programs, you do have to register. You can do it online though if you go to their site.

For Premier skating...they do a really great job with the little ones. They use a lot of toys, and they blow bubbles for the kids to chase around, usually the kids do quite well "away" from the parents. If your kid is shy, sometimes a private lesson is worth its' weight in gold.

Best of luck!

PS if you live downtown, you might also want to look int these guys, they also have some programs out of Bill Bolton Arena (Bathurst and Dupont) for the really young hockey player/skater. Probably this program would be good for your little guy next year:

Canadian Pro Hockey

Click on the Early Develpment Skills link

[NuggyBuggy 0]

For Premier skating...they do a really great job with the little ones. They use a lot of toys, and they blow bubbles for the kids to chase around, usually the kids do quite well "away" from the parents. If your kid is shy, sometimes a private lesson is worth its' weight in gold.

Thanks again Jordan ! They do sound awesome. I looked at Premier's website, but saw that their classes were 1-h long, probably too long for my guys - and that their times didn't really work for us (we needed a weekend class; their Saturday class is too late and their Sunday class falls right in their naptime and might conflict with my own game times).

I ended up calling Canlan and really liked the people I talked to - seemed very experienced. They have a class at a good time for us (Saturday 9 AM), which runs for just the right amount of time (1/2 hour) before I know they will lose their attention. They also seemed really flexible - told me if we missed a class, we could just make it up the next session. It's much farther than I would have liked (north Scarborough), but I liked the sound of the program so much that I enrolled my 20-month old in it too !

Even though the website says it is for 3 or 4-year olds the coordinator says he could work with my young one. This guy is a daredevil, built more like a hockey player than his brother, and would be upset if he knew he was missing out on something. Plus, the coordinator told me that if one of them really wasn't into it, I could just convert his ice times and use them for my other son later. It was pretty cheap, $100 for 10 1/2-hour sessions. Will let you guys know how it works out later - starts in October.

PS if you live downtown, you might also want to look int these guys, they also have some programs out of Bill Bolton Arena (Bathurst and Dupont) for the really young hockey player/skater. Probably this program would be good for your little guy next year:

Canadian Pro Hockey

Click on the Early Develpment Skills link

I will definitely check them out next year - their website does say a minimum of 1-year skating is required. Another program I looked at was the Canskate program at Moss Park (we live not too far from there) which I had seen running many times before, but I never saw very young kids and didn't really like how it ran - there were much older kids and even adults on the ice, with all that entails.

Thanks everyone !

For the City of Toronto programs, you do have to register. You can do it online though if you go to their site.

The last time we registered my kid for a City program (swimming) my wife had to wake up early to be online so she could get a spot in the program. Apparently they fill up extremely fast !!

[Jordan 13]

Have fun with it Nuggy ! It all happens very quickly.

Seems like just the other day I was trying to figure out these very same things and now I have one in rep hockey and 1 in competitive figure skating...now I am trying to find a way to get a free day away from the rink!