These toddler skis are ideal to get very young children used to balancing and shuffling along. Start at home, allow them to shuffle on the carpet and get used to the length of the skis. If you have a ski holiday booked then you can plan fun activities for when you are there.
Ski Instructors have long advised that the optimum time to start ski school is when your child has started school, when they are more used to taking instruction and have more stamina and able to handle the weight of ski boots and waxed skis.
So, when you are in resort hunt out the green slopes and the areas around the toddler ski school. These areas are perfect to play on, and playing is the key word here. The perfect thing about these plastic toddler skis are they are easy to carry in your rucksack and when you have found the perfect spot, they simply slip on over your toddlers snow boots and off you go.
When first using them with my toddler, we just had fun, I held her hand and walked alongside her while she tried to make the “pizza” shape. Then we found little bits of the slopes that went up and down and she just found her way. I used the Hobbledehoo Ski harness too, pulling her along as her confidence grew.
You can also ski with them between you legs for a bit, pull them along with your ski pole while skiing and simply let them slide down a small bump on their own.
The best thing is they start to understand that the position of skis allows you to speed up or slow down according to the shape. The learn to balance (try getting them to put their hands on their knees) and when they fall over (they will!) just to laugh and try again.
Once you start looking, you’ll find plenty of places in resorts and the best thing is when they are tired or want a change, you whip them off easily, pop in your rucksack and off you go. No drama, no tears – just fun.
Endorsement:
I’m an independent ski teacher in Tignes and Val d”Isère, France, i’ve taught all levels of skiing for 20 years. I have 3 children who all started on skis around their 1st birthday. With all my experience in teaching little skiers I’ve become an expert in getting children enjoying skiing as early as possible. As I always say, ‘If they can walk then they can ski'. Families come to me to book their little skiers private ski lessons sometimes before they are even born. I always explain to them that their ski journey starts at home before they even reach the ski pistes with me. I recommend that they buy plastic skis from Little Skiers and let their baby play with them and try them on around the house. Even if they only put them on for 2 minutes at a time, learning to walk and step around in plastic skis can really give them a head start for when they meet me on the ski pistes for their first ever ski on snow.
Victoria Collins - February 2022 Tori.Ski
Hey! Thanks for your post, I am wanting to get my little one out on the slopes – he’ll be 18 months come winter. Would you recommend these little plastic skis that go over snow boots for him, or a regular pair of teeny normal skis? ⛷️