Teaching Your Toddler To Ski

As a mom who loves to ski, the chance to teach my son to love the slopes is something I’ve been waiting for since the day I found out I was pregnant. (In that, “OMG, I didn’t realize until now but I’ve been looking forward to taking him skiing since he was in my belly!” kind of way.) But to be perfectly honest, I wasn’t really sure HOW to teach a three year old to ski. I mean...I didn’t even know where to begin.  

So I did what anyone would do and got a job teaching ski school! (Ok, ok, most people would search for blogs like this one and fall down the You Tube rabbit hole lookng for tips. But I’m an overachiever with a slow winter work schedule and a mother-in-law who has been teaching ski school for 8 years who practically filled out the application for me so...here we are.) But all kidding aside, learning techniques to teach tiny people to ski was one of my primary reasons for taking the gig. I still have a lot to learn (and endless certifications to pursue) but this season has taught me so much about the do’s and don’ts of toddler skiing.

DO: Look up You Tube videos of children skiing to watch with your kiddo. This will give them a connection to other kids their age skiing and gets them stoked about what they will be doing. This dad/daughter duo is one of my favorites on the internet. Dad has a contagious stoke and joy for being with his daughter on the slopes that can’t be matched and the little girl is having a blast.

DON’T: Buy snow clothes for your child at Target. While I know the price of winter gear is daunting, especially for people who will keep growing, discount store snow clothes will not be truly waterproof or particularly warm. A kid who becomes soaked and cold will not have fun, and if they don’t have fun they won’t want to do it again. A few tips to keep the price down: Try SIerra Trading Post for reasonably priced kids gear. We found the Little Bear’s snow pants on there this year for $24, roughly the same as Target gear but it is actually waterproof. If possible, you can buy your child one size too large coat and pants and get two seasons out of it. Don’t buy it so big and floppy that they trip over it or can’t move, but a little big is fine. You can also check out the Obermeyer iGrow system. There is stitching at the legs and arms that you remove to lengthen them in season two. If you combine this technique with the “buy a little big” technique you may get 3 seasons out of your child’s snow gear.

DO: Practice footwork before you hit the slopes! It can take tiny people a lot of practice to move their feet into the “pizza” shape that they will need to be able to control their speed. They won’t really want to practice this over and over on the slopes because...they just wanna SKI! (Really, can you blame em?) Help them learn to lean into the balls of their feet and slide their heels to the pizza shape. Feel free to physically move their feet for them a few times until they get the idea. Little children have difficulty moving their arms and legs separately so capitalize this and encourage them to make their arms into pizza too! It will help. And be the cutest thing ever!

This shape takes a lot of practice to make! 

DON’T: Use those leashes or ski behind them to hold them up. These things make me crazy. Children already have a great deal of difficulty getting their weight forward when skiing and pulling on their backs or being behind them encourages them to lean back into it. Additionally, instead of learning from day one to control their speed they learn to hurtle down the mountain with the expectation that someone will magically stop them. I’ve seen many many children come to ski school who were basically “foot sledding” down the hill at 2 and 3 years old who then, at 4, come to ski school to learn to ski for real. Problem is they have a TON of resistance to learning technique because they spent the previous two seasons flying downhill. That’s what they think skiing is all about and changing that pattern is extremely difficult.

In this moment I needed to be behind him to help him learn to load the lift. See how he is practically sitting on my hands? You don't want to cement this sitting back habit all the way down the hill. 

DO: Ski backwards in front of them! This way you can ensure their safety as they learn speed control and they will naturally want to lean forward, which is the body position you want to teach them. You can have them press the palms of their hands into your hands as they ski. It will give them confidence, move their weight forward, and encourage them to look up at you instead of at their skis. From this position you can also reach down and physically move their feet into the pizza shape if they are having difficulty.

DO: Use “tip clips”. They go on the ends of their skis to prevent ski drift. Tiny people don’t always have the muscle control to slide their heels out into the pizza shape without their legs completely drifting into the splits. This gives them a bit of support and helps lock in the muscle memory of what correct positioning should feel like.

DON’T: Wake your kids at 4 AM and feed them donuts and red gatorade while driving swiftly to high elevation. Seriously people. What is up with this phenomenon? I can’t tell you how many bright red piles of donut puke have ended up in the snow from this mixture. Driving to high altitude can cause altitude sickness by itself, add in a giant pile of fried dough, sugar and red dye and you have a seriously queasy combination! Instead, encourage healthy protein rich breakfast and drinking water to combat the change in altitude and help your kiddo feel their best. If at all possible, spend the night near the ski hill beforehand so they can be well rested and have a bit of time to adjust to the altitude.

DO: Keep it fun and light! Expect that they will struggle at least a little. Expect not to see a future olympian their first day out. Laugh with them when they fall, cheer for them and be stoked no matter what. Take lots of breaks to make snow angels and throw snowballs. Visit the lodge for hot cocoa and snacks. Getting wound up about their performance or getting everything “right” will stress them out and make them not want to do it again next time. The MOST important thing on your first few visits to the mountain are cementing positive happy memories with their parents that make them want to come back again and again.

Having fun and bonding on the slopes is the most important thing at this age! 

DON’T: Try to “get your money’s worth”. I completely understand the desire to make the most out of that $30 gear rental fee, or the expensive lift ticket. I really do. But teaching a toddler to ski and love it is a long game. My 3yo son is good for about an hour before he is doing the “limp noodle” flop onto the snow and descending into that particular delirious laughter that indicates an attitude crash is coming. Expect to spend about an hour on the slopes with your little one at first. Prepare yourself mentally to count the cost of that hour as money well spent investing in your child’s love for the sport rather than insisting on going all day and causing exhaustion and resistance next time.

Officially "limp noodle" status. Don't push it. When they start to fall all over, pack it in. 

DO: Look into creative options for acquiring ski equipment. It is wise to just do a day rental the first time or two out (make sure they actually LIKE skiing first), but that will get very expensive very quickly. If you live near enough to skiing, check the local ski shops for season rentals. For around $150 you can rent skis for the whole season for your kiddo. Not only does this cut the cost of ski rental for trips to the mountain, but if there are small sledding hills near you that regularly get snow, you can hit those up quickly and easily if you have gear for your kids. If you have 3 or more children, it might make sense to purchase equipment each year for the oldest child and pass it down. As you become integrated into the “skiing with kids” community, it is very likely that parents of older children will offer to sell you their children’s old equipment for a reasonable price.

If teaching your kiddo to ski still seems overwhelming, ski school really can be a great option. Here are a few dos and don’ts for trying ski school.

DON’T: Lie about your child’s age so they can take a group lesson. It happens all the time and it really serves no one. At the ski school where I work, group lessons start at 4, but you can get a private lesson at any age you want. Parents, desperate for somewhere to send their children so they can ski for a few hours, and unwilling to pay for private lesson rates regularly send their 3 year olds to group lessons claiming they are 4. I get it. I really do and I don’t judge you one bit. Mama’s gotta ski amirite!? But here’s the thing. There really is a pretty huge developmental and social difference between a 3 year old and a 4 year old. (And let’s not forget that your child’s group lesson could have children who are 5 or even 6 years old.) The 3 year old will be unlikely to keep up with a group of older students causing the 3 year old to feel frustrated and the rest of the class to have to do a lot of waiting. If your goal is getting professional instruction for your tot but you are queasy at the price of a private lesson, call ahead to the ski school and ask if they have any one hour lesson deals. At the mountain where I work we have “early bird” 1 hour privates. It’s roughly the cost of a two hour group lesson, but gets your child out 1x1 for an hour before the rush of the group lessons hits the bunny hill. As mentioned previously, 1 hour is enough for tiny people anyway and they will make more progress in a 1 hour private than a 2 hour group lesson. If you goal is a babysitter, hire one of those. It will be cheaper.

DON’T: Make your child go to ski school if they don’t want to. This is not preschool. The advice at preschool is, drop your child off and they will eventually stop crying and join the class. That is very sound advice. The dynamics of ski school are very very different. At preschool the child can be in the room with everyone else, be comforted when needed by an adult, and the rest of the class can go about their business until your child is ready to join in. At ski school we are putting on coats and mittens and moving the class out to the ski slopes. “Sad Pandas” (our ski school’s name for crying or sick children) often simply refuse to move or do anything but wail and scream. The rest of the class cannot go about their business. What ends up happening 90% of the time is the sad panda has to have their parents called to pick them up early and the parents are now out the cost of ski school having gained nothing.

DO: Tip your child’s instructor. Ski instructors are making roughly minimum wage and are only being paid for the 2 or 4 hours a day they are physically teaching (even though they may be “at work” 6-8 hours). They depend on tips to be able to afford to be ski school instructors. No one teaches ski school to get rich, they do it because they have mad love for the game and a passion for teaching the sport to the next generation. But they need to eat too. No instructor expects to be tipped or is mad if you don’t, but they deeply appreciate it when you do.

Woohoo! Alright everyone! Are you ready!? Let’s get those kids out there to ski! Do you have any other great tips for teaching toddlers to ski? Still have questions? Leave me a comment and let me know!        

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Best Tips For More Adventure as A Mama

You’ve heard from me on how I find more time and money to adventure and kick the mom guilt to the curb. (If you missed it, those pieces are Here, Here, Here, and Here.) Now enjoy these “best tips” from some of my other favorite adventure loving mama bloggers. Take it away ladies!

“I'm a mom of 4 and getting "me" time is something I always make room for on a monthly basis. Whether it be a solo hike or dinner with a friend, having time to reset and catch up is a must when balancing out the #momlife. In order to make time for it, I use a shared calendar with my husband to keep each other informed of dates. This makes life easy because: auto-reminders!

My only advice around "mom guilt" is don't have it. I gave up overcompensating when things don't go as planned, years ago. As moms we have SO much to juggle and guilt should not be one of them. Instead, I try expressing how grateful I am to even be able to see them considering our packed schedules.

Meeting up for hikes or outdoor time is a great way to emphasize quality time without spending a ton of money. We like bringing snacks to share and 9 times out of 10 my kids will chomp on someone else's snacks in lieu of their own and vice versa.”

Stephanie Harper of Raising Kids Wild

“It's been hard to set aside time to adventure.

To take time I set adventure goals and prioritize those goals so that I get time for myself whether it is getting family to watch the kids or a babysitter.

Money is also a challenge. I have had to adjust what I like to do and have started trail running, hiking and cross country skiing more because they are less expensive.  I try to save money, even if it's only $10, each week so that I can go on bigger adventures like snowboarding or overnight trips.

Mom guilt is always a struggle but I am getting better. I struggle more with missing the littles but whenever I get the time away I feel so much better. A lot of positive self talk helps that it is good for all of us when I take time for myself away from the family. This helps me to prioritize self adventure time and I always feel better after.”

Annika Mang of Born To Be Adventurous

“My two cents on getting outside and adventuring as a mom:

- choose it over laundry and the floors (that stuff can always wait)

- make it a priority by telling other people you are doing it and that way it's harder to bail on your plans due to any of the issues you mentioned (time, money, kids, guilt)

- create purpose behind it (ex a blog you are writing, a pic you want to capture, a story you want to tell). This helps drive the motivation and push through the things that may trick you to stay home.....I feel mixed on this one though because really you should be able to go just 'to go' but desperate times... ”

Chantelle Quesnelle of Tablespoon Of Wild

"Time - One way I make time for getting outdoors is living near the outdoors. I live in the mountains near Sundance Mountain Resort in Utah and can “get outdoors” just by walking out the door. Although that’s not an option for many, working the outdoors into everyday life can be that easy. Eat dinner outside. Go for a walk around your office. Notice the birds outside your window. Not every outdoor adventure needs to be an epic three day getaway. Although those are awesome, they’re also a lot of work. Sometimes just a little sunshine is enough.

Money - I loved MamaWildandFree’s tips on overcoming the money obstacle. In many cases getting outdoors is a free and easy activity. National Parks, Forests, State Land, Local Parks, so many areas have been set aside for public use. My family purchases an $80 annual federal lands pass (https://www.nps.gov/planyourvisit/passes.htm) each year and make a goal to get our money’s worth. In 2016 we visited 23 National Parks and Monuments on our National Park to Park Highway tour so we definitely got our money’s worth.

Mom Guilt - That’s easy. I deal with my mom guilt by just bringing the kids along with me. Yes it sets a snail’s pace for my adventures and involves a lot of snacks and potty breaks along the way, but it allows me to share what I love with the ones I love the most."

Susan Strayer from MountainMomandTots.com   

Woo! Aren’t these mamas just the best! Be sure to check out their blogs for more amazing inspiration!

I hope this series has inspired you to get creative in removing the obstacles to outdoor adventure and get outside more. Will you do me a favor? Will you leave me a comment below and tell me ONE tip you will try this year?

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How to Raise Kids Who Love Outdoor Adventure

As an adventure loving mama, the early years with your tiny training partner are going to be a combination of slow, interrupted ambles in the woods (punctuated by stops for nursing, diaper changes/potty breaks, snacks, and the need to examine the fascinating structure of every stick and rock) with the occasional passing off of your darling progeny to your partner, grandma, or a sitter so that you can get out alone long enough to run fast, scream real loud and come back feeling human. In other words, it is largely about getting yourself back out there so that you don’t lose everything that was important to you pre-kid.

And maybe, like me, you also hope that you will ignite the spark of outdoor exploration in your child too. That they will find joy and fulfillment in a life outside. That as they grow bigger and stronger they will not only enjoy keeping up with you , but that they will one day hike farther, ride faster, and climb higher than you can.

Little Bear and a friend inspect I tiny catfish they caught. Kids love to see nature up close. Let them. 

We all know, however, that children hit phases of life where they become rebellious. Where anything and everything that their parents ever held dear gets jettisoned faster than hippies ditching weed when the cops show up. How then, do we instill the love of adventure that we have, without triggering the pushback?

While my child is only just 3, and I can’t claim to have “raised” an adventure loving kid yet, I do have about 15 years of experience (between classroom teaching and working as an outdoor educator) of observing other families’ tactics and outcomes and think I have spotted a few things that work, and some that don’t.

My best tips for raising adventure loving kids.

• Get them out early and often: The sooner and more frequently children are exposed to the outdoors the more comfortable they will be there, and the more they will view it as being normal. This doesn’t have to mean epic big wall climbs or weeks spent camping in extreme weather. Evening walks before dinner, afternoons in the backyard, Sunday family hikes at the nearest nature trail work well. The right amount of time will be something you feel out for your own family. We envisioned ourselves as the family who would camp with the tiniest newborn baby. In reality we camped once in our colicky, non-sleeping child’s first year. It was hell. He already basically never slept, in an unfamiliar place it was a non-stop scream fest. At first light I declared the trip over and we were going home. Other families report that their young babies sleep considerably better in a tent than at home. Everyone is different, so play it by ear. (Don’t worry, our 3 year old is now a champion camper. He calls our tent the “camping house” and becomes quite displeased when it is time to take it down and go home.)

• Let them see you enjoy outdoor activities: I spend a lot of time beating the drum about the importance of getting mama (and papa) out to experience their favorite activities for their own health and sanity. But taking care of yourself in this way has a hugely positive impact on your kids too. Not only because when you are happy and fulfilled you have more energy and patience for your children’s needs, but also, when they see these activities having a positive impact on you they will learn by watching that playing outside is fun and rewarding.

• Respect their interests: If all we do is push our own agenda onto our kids, we will create the push back and rebellion that we are trying to avoid. Watch your children and listen to what they tell you is important to them. This starts in the earliest toddler years with letting that hike turn into hours of splashing in the creek instead, not always having to push through for the exact itinerary you envisioned. Once they are old enough to show what they enjoy, it means supporting those things. My son has been talking about skiing nonstop the last month or so. Every day he asks when the snow is going to come so we can “go skiing at the skiing place”. Folks...he went skiing exactly once last year with his Grama. Once. They were out for like...20 min. It was way too cold that day. He is still obsessing. So, I guess we will do a lot of focusing on skiing this winter. I’m also noticing a natural inclination to climb EVERYTHING. So, I recently dug out my 20 year old climbing gear and am working on building those skills so that I can teach him how to do it too.

• Acquire top quality equipment for them: Look, I don’t want to be out in the cold and wet in crappy cotton sweatpants and a hoodie, neither does my kid. If they are cold, wet, miserable and fighting against heavy, barely functional walmart grade equipment, they are going to have a bad time. And a bad time means not wanting to do it again. I get it. Kids grow fast, and their interests change. The last thing parents want to do is dump gobs of money into stuff that will only be useful for a little while. But if we really want to raise kids who think outdoor adventure is fun, we need to get comfortable with the idea that we WILL be spending serious cash on their gear. Also, get creative! If you know the quality brands of mountain bikes for kids, you can keep an eye out for second hand versions. Heck, you can probably resell it later for nearly what you paid AND pass that awesome bike onto another stoked little kid. Find other outdoor loving parents who will swap gear. Maybe they will loan you their oldest kid’s climbing harness for this season and you can loan their youngest your kid’s outgrown snow suit. Win-Win. Many ski shops offer season rentals on kids equipment. You pay one reasonable flat fee to use the skis for one winter and return them at the end of the season. No need to buy brand new ones every year. But whatever you do, outfit the kids with the best equipment you can manage and everyone will have more fun.

• Push them, but not too much: Just like adults, children need to build their physical and mental capacity for physical exertion little by little. As they are asked to hike a little further this week than last week, they build muscles and their own knowledge that they are capable. As parents, we will sometimes need to move the bar a bit for them. If you know they can hike a mile, try a mile and a quarter next time. But always move incrementally and have a bailout option in mind. The last thing you want is for your kid to decide that hiking with mom is akin to a death march and will be a miserable experience.      

• Make outdoor time fun: Let them have the super sugary cereal when camping. Save special toys for outdoor hang out time. Teach them fun games to play on the trail. Hiking isn’t fun to kids the same way it is for adults. The more you can inject fun out there, the more they will want to do it.  

• Beware hedonic adaptation: Humans are ease and comfort seeking creatures by nature. It is an understandable part of our DNA. Life for our ancestors, the ones who gave us our genetic makeup, was hard. Really hard. A daily battle for enough food, and water to keep on living while trying to stay warm, dry, and protected. Being able to identify ways to make life easier and more comfortable is a survival advantage. Once we become accustomed to a certain comfort level, we begin to expect that level and want things even more comfortable. Seeking ease and pleasure is normal. But in our modern world where we have more ease and pleasure available to us at every moment of every day than our ancestors could have ever imagined, we may have to be intentional about limiting our constant comfort and entertainment. I don’t want my child to be miserable of course, but letting him get slightly hot or slightly chilly and teaching him how to handle those situations will help him learn that slight discomfort won’t kill him, and teach him how to prepare and take care of himself. I want to let him get a little bored sometimes. Being outdoors can be thrilling for sure, but it is usually brief moments of thrilling accentuating hours of monotony. Learning to deal with the boredom is good for us all.

• But don’t ban the screens: Lest you think my previous point was going to lead to a sanctimonious rant about the evils of screen time, it isn’t. Like anything we forbid, screens will simply become more attractive if we fight too hard against them. Like many parents who value unplugged time, I too have a natural tendency to want to just live out in the trees in some Walden-esque manner eschewing technology and protecting my little snowflake from the evils of the flashing pixels. But let’s get real. We are modern humans who live in the real world. Forbidding all screen time or technology use is not only unreasonable, but it will be counter productive. It can even create an obsession with the forbidden fruit. And really, your child will, without a doubt, use technology someday as part of their job. Fingers in the ears and singing “la la la” isn’t serving anyone.

• Surround yourselves with like minded families: If your family and your kid are the only ones in town who spend their weekends mountain biking and climbing, it will seem “weird”. Having a community of other adventure loving families around will help them see that being an outdoor family is normal.    

Playing outside is more fun with a friend!

Of course, there is no perfect formula for raising kids that love nature and adventure as much as they love indoor activities and screentime, but I do think adopting these practices will help point them in the outdoor direction.

How do you encourage a love for the outdoors in your kids? Leave me a comment and let me know!            

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4 Outdoor Mindfulness Activities for Kids (and the adults who love them)

This. Life. Is. Busy. It is full, and hectic and distracted and bounces around all over the place. When I allow myself to get sucked into the ever shifting tide of phone notifications, long lists of work tasks, an over abundance of social obligations and anything else the world wants to throw at me I am anxious, grouchy, and disconnected.

Our children are no different. THEY live in this world of crazy too. They pick up on our hectic vibe, and the expectations on them even as young as preschool are becoming more and more intense.

We can let ourselves and our children get swept away in this maddening stress driven culture, OR we can choose to cultivate slow. To breathe deep, get intentional, and train ourselves and our littles to be mindful about curating our focus and attention.

Mindfulness doesn’t just happen. It is a skill we must practice and polish. Meditation and yoga are wonderful tools. But there is nothing that calms and soothes me nearly so much as being in nature. Most children are the same way. If we add some activities that require focus and attention we get even more bang for our nature time buck.

• Color Matching: How many colors are there in nature? 3? 4? Look closer and you will see thousands of shades of green, brown, hot pink, bright orange, purple and blue. When we only whiz past everything outside, we don’t notice all this variety. Slow down and look more closely. Before playing this game, stop by your local home supply store and grab a handful of paint color cards. These come in single colors, or sometimes in a strip with different shades of the same color on each card. Both are useful in their own way. For younger children, just focus on having them find that particular color. A green plant to match the green card, some pink in a rock to match the pink card, orange lichen for the orange card. As they get older, up the challenge to have them match the exact shade of the color as closely as possible. Sure that pineneedle is green, but is it the exact shade of blueish green on the card? No? Keep looking! You will be amazed at the variety of colors you will find. Shades you didn’t think were possible to find in nature. Get wild with it! Don’t limit yourself to blue, green, and brown! Grab a royal purple, maroon, magenta. Its out there. Look big and small. Near and far. Not only does this cultivate mindfulness, but with younger children you are practicing their colors, for which you can give yourself a gold star on your mom chart. (Stars may be redeemed for glasses of pinot after a long day.)

• Rock Stacking: Is this just one of those things that humans have naturally wanted to do since the beginning of time? I think yes. Get yourself and your kiddos to a dry river bed, or other location with plenty of different sizes and shapes of rocks and them let them go wild trying to stack and balance them in different ways. The irregular shape of rocks makes this more challenging than stacking building blocks, and over time your child will develop an inexplicable inner sense of physics that allows them to do improbable things like balancing large rocks on top of smaller ones. (Side note: you are teaching physics! More gold mom stars! More wine!) Before you leave though, make sure to have your children dismantle the stacks. Leaving rocks stacked is a controversial practice that is considered destructive to the natural feel of a place and in opposition to Leave No Trace outdoor ethics. Leaving rock stacks in National Parks or Monuments is illegal. If your children are having a hard time embracing the ephemeral nature of rock art, let them take pictures before they pull it apart.

• Make a Sound Map: The basics of this activity is to sit somewhere and be absolutely still and silent, noticing the sounds around you and where the sound is coming from relative to your position. With the littlest children, just have them sit in your lap and listen together. After a minute or so of quiet, talk about the sounds you heard around you. With older children they can actually map out what they hear on paper. Have them make an X in the center of their paper. The X is them. Anytime they hear a sound, have them make a symbol on the paper in the place they hear it, to represent the sound. If the child is old enough to be working on map skills, have them find north and orient themselves to face that way. They can add a compass rose and key to their map too. As they get better at it and more skilled with age, continue to add levels of complexity to their maps. But remember to keep it light, fun, and relaxing. Pushing them to add complexity to the map before they are really ready adds stress and detracts from the relaxing aim of the game. That would cause an immediate loss of mom gold stars.

• Watch the Clouds: Yes. Just the good old fashioned “lay on your back and relax” version of cloud watching. Snuggle into the grass, take a deep breath, get quiet and watch. Notice the roiling build, the sideways wandering. Let your mind make bunnies, dinosaurs, and pirate ships.

"I'm gonna sit here just quietly and watch the creek. Ok mama?"

Each of these activities has a distinct mental focus. It is a common misconception that meditation and mindfulness practices need to involve a clearing or emptying of the mind. This is not true at all. I’m not sure even the most practiced and disciplined of monks can do that. Mindfulness practice is about cultivating slow, calming the wild bouncing in our heads, and being in charge of what our minds focus on.

Do you have a mindfulness practice that you enjoy? Do you share one with your children? I’d love to hear from you. Leave me comment and let me know!          

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