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Cross-Country Skiing: Teaching Kids with Fun and Games—10 Activities for Learning the Basics
Cross-country skiing as a family can be as much
fun as going to the beach, walking in the park, or riding bikes together—it’s
also the perfect opportunity to share with your kids an appreciation
for nature, adventure, and fitness. Teaching children to ski can be
incredibly rewarding, but it requires patience and creativity. Games
can help build the skills necessary for fun and safe skiing, while preventing
boredom and frustration. To get you started, here are a few activity
suggestions from Steve Hindman’s Cross-Country
Skiing: Building Skills for Fun and Fitness.
Have kids race to a certain spot. When you
blow the whistle, they must stop by a count of three. If they don’t
stop in time they must move back ten ski lengths.
Tie lots of balloons to a long string attached
to your waist and weave over the snow while the kids chase you and
try to break the balloons by stomping on them with their skis.
Have the kids take one ski off and race using
the remaining ski, as if they are riding a scooter.
Do the Cha-cha, 1-2, 1-2-3. Glide on the three.
Do it as a group. Do it up hill, do it downhill, do it all around.
Get rhythm.
Ski like a cat. Curl the claws on all four
paws (poles and skis) to grip the snow and spring forward.
On the flats, have kids put their skis in the
A (wedge) position and use their poles to push themselves around.
Have them go right, then left, then straight. Do the same in a train
of kids (skis of the child in back placed inside the wedge formed
by the skis of the child in front). Make train sounds. Expect a crash.
With their skis in the V (herringbone) position
and edges turned, tell kids to walk and quack like a duck. Start on
the flats, then waddle up a gentle hill.
Downhill drill: Start out with the knees on
skis, hands on tips for the first run. Do the next run up right with
hands on knees. On the final run have kids try to bite their pole
handles as they slide downhill.
Red light, green light. Same as the game on
foot. Leader holds poles baskets up for go, poles crossed means stop.
Limbo! Place two ski poles
upright in the snow. Suspend a third pole, held in place by the straps
of the first two, between them. Be sure to attach the horizontal pole
on the back or downhill side of the upright poles. Have kids ski through
the arch clearing it by crouching forward or doing the limbo.
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