Help! Teaching ideas for a tots group!

[ZilphaK]

My daughter is teaching Learn To Skate Basic 1 this session, but it's basically a tots class.

She has a group of nine boys, all 3-5 years old. And yes, ALL BOYS.

The first session was a little chaotic -- getting everyone in fitting skates, learning names. Then it got really chaotic. (And adorable, lol!)

The lesson is 30 minutes with 15 minutes before and after. That can be a long time to keep the attention of a group of little kids, some who are Bambi on the ice, some who won't get up, and some who are zooming and falling.

What are some of your best hints, tips and tricks for Tot Class crowd control?

Any games that work well?

What to do and what not to do as far as giving too many instructions or not enough?

And what are some visual devices that can help (maybe things like drawing on the ice or putting pictures on the wall where they should stand)?

Thank you!

 

[Yazmeen]

My rinks LTC classes keeps buckets of old Beanie Babies and other stuffies for the kids to chase down, bend over and pick up and swizzle around.

 

[ZilphaK]

My rinks LTC classes keeps buckets of old Beanie Babies and other stuffies for the kids to chase down, bend over and pick up and swizzle around.

Great idea, thanks!

 

[made_in_canada]

For the really young ones bubbles are good for the kids to chase and try and pop. Pustefix bubbles are the best in a cold environment but really any will do. Simon says is always a good game (just no one is ever out, so they stay moving). You can adapt lots of simple songs/rhymes to the ice with appropriate actions for their skill level. Simple circuits drawn into the ice work well too. You don’t have to draw well, just quickly. Or do it before the kids are in the ice if possible. The key with any circuit is to make it big enough so there’s room for all the kids and for kids that age keep it super simple (like 2 or 3 skills tops, interspersed with something fun that all the kids can do like making animal noises, or a silly face, or a dance break which are also things that can be included in Simon says). The big thing is to stay moving as much as possible.

 

[ZilphaK]

For the really young ones bubbles are good for the kids to chase and try and pop. Pustefix bubbles are the best in a cold environment but really any will do. Simon says is always a good game (just no one is ever out, so they stay moving). You can adapt lots of simple songs/rhymes to the ice with appropriate actions for their skill level. Simple circuits drawn into the ice work well too. You don’t have to draw well, just quickly. Or do it before the kids are in the ice if possible. The key with any circuit is to make it big enough so there’s room for all the kids and for kids that age keep it super simple (like 2 or 3 skills tops, interspersed with something fun that all the kids can do like making animal noises, or a silly face, or a dance break which are also things that can be included in Simon says). The big thing is to stay moving as much as possible.

Thank you! All SO helpful!!!

 

[overedge]

Drawing on the ice works really well for kids who learn better visually rather than through oral instructions. In any group that size and age, there are going to be different learning styles, and it really helps to have things that can be learned in different ways. You can also do fun things that the kids will enjoy, e.g. for swizzles, draw a series of whales or dragons or fish, and then the kids have to swizzle around each one.

 

[ZilphaK]

Drawing on the ice works really well for kids who learn better visually rather than through oral instructions. In any group that size and age, there are going to be different learning styles, and it really helps to have things that can be learned in different ways. You can also do fun things that the kids will enjoy, e.g. for swizzles, draw a series of whales or dragons or fish, and then the kids have to swizzle around each one.

My daughter is also an artist, so she can have fun with this! (Drawing quickly, of course.)

 

[Willin]

At the end of class sessions we would draw trails to help the tots review skills - usually topical stuff. A stop sign to tell them to stop, a snowflake/sun/flower/bug to swizzle around, a bridge to dip under, a river to wiggle on, a spider to hop on, a lollipop to spin on, etc. It was really fun!

We NEVER use anything to help the skaters stay upright (chairs, walkers, buckets, etc.) because they promote bad posture and make them less likely to move independently. Also with boys they'll use just about anything to trip one another up. They are also told not to hold onto the wall because it promotes a lack of balance and independence.
Generally for Tots (especially Tots 1) the most important thing is getting them used to skating on their own.

Crowd control tips:

• Separate the kids into mini levels or move them up as appropriate. If we have a kid or two zooming past everyone as soon as they stepped on the ice for week one we'd move them to Tots 2. For the other kids we have a "moving" group and a "not moving" group. The moving group skates without help, and the not moving group needs help. We dedicate 1-2 coaches to the moving group and the rest to the not moving group. The moving group is taught the skills faster while the not moving group. This also allows the not moving kids to feel less overwhelmed or less embarrassed that they're not as fast.
• I'm not afraid to fail a tots 1 kid if they can't go on their own, but I won't necessarily fail them because they can't do a perfect swizzle. They'll re-learn and get closer to mastering pretty much all the skills in Tots 2 through Pre-Alpha/Alpha, but if they can't skate well on their own in the first place they can't learn those skills.
• If a kid is crying get them off the ice immediately. They're a distraction to you and the other kids and aren't going to learn anything through their tears. I don't care if they parent tries to force them back on the ice. They stay off until they stop crying and are ready to learn. If they're crying because they're too scared and can't get back on the ice that day we offer them a refund/drop from the class. If they're crying because they fell we get them ice or recommend they get checked out by a doctor depending on the situation. This helps crowd control because it means everyone is spending less time with the crying skater and less time skating around them.
• Keep the skaters as far away as possible from each other (at least an arm's distance). Boys in particular like to crash into each other, push/drag each other down, or play intense games of tag. I think there's a rhyme that goes along with this?

For actual teaching:

• Keep it simple and in kid terms: For swizzles I like to say they're skating around a basketball (since kids play with them). Some other instructors I know call them pizza (toes together) and ice cream (heels together). My instructor back in the 90s said your heels kiss then you move your feet so your toes can kiss too. For keeping their arms up we tell them to pretend they're holding onto scooter handlebars or pressing them onto a table. Things like that.
• Figure out what they like. These are boys, so maybe they like hockey, basketball, paw patrol, power rangers, whatever, and use that to your advantage.
• Figure out what games they know and use those: we like Red Light Green Light, Simon Says, follow the leader, and playground games like that.
• If there is no appropriate game, come up with one. We have a problem of kids clinging to walls or relying on the wall to stop, so I play the "No Walls" game. The skaters have to snowplow stop before reaching the wall (but within reach of the wall) and they can't touch the wall between trips across the ice. What happens if they touch the wall or use the wall to stop varies by coach. I just call them out on it (Jackson, are we supposed to touch the wall? Isn't it covered in lava? Let's step away from it!) other coaches make them wait five seconds after the other skaters have started to go across the ice.
• Do exactly as the kids are supposed to be doing. Have your arms up. Put your hands on your knees when appropriate. When they're swizzling around the diamond you drew, swizzle around a diamond you drew for yourself. When you're teaching them one on one show them what you are doing.
• Give feedback in real time. If they're not doing a swizzle right as they practice across the ice go up and demonstrate for them and do the move with them.
• If there's practice time after, tell them to show you a skill each week. That is, if you were teaching stops, tell them to come up to you during the 15 minutes of practice time and show you a good stop. That way you can encourage them to practice and have a bit of one-on-one time with each kid to reinforce what you taught on an individual level. It also encourages them to focus on practicing one skill at a time rather than

Idk there's probably a lot more I could add in here, but I can't remember it all since it's been a couple months since I taught any classes.

 

[ZilphaK]

At the end of class sessions we would draw trails to help the tots review skills - usually topical stuff. A stop sign to tell them to stop, a snowflake/sun/flower/bug to swizzle around, a bridge to dip under, a river to wiggle on, a spider to hop on, a lollipop to spin on, etc. It was really fun!

We NEVER use anything to help the skaters stay upright (chairs, walkers, buckets, etc.) because they promote bad posture and make them less likely to move independently. Also with boys they'll use just about anything to trip one another up. They are also told not to hold onto the wall because it promotes a lack of balance and independence.
Generally for Tots (especially Tots 1) the most important thing is getting them used to skating on their own.

Crowd control tips:

• Separate the kids into mini levels or move them up as appropriate. If we have a kid or two zooming past everyone as soon as they stepped on the ice for week one we'd move them to Tots 2. For the other kids we have a "moving" group and a "not moving" group. The moving group skates without help, and the not moving group needs help. We dedicate 1-2 coaches to the moving group and the rest to the not moving group. The moving group is taught the skills faster while the not moving group. This also allows the not moving kids to feel less overwhelmed or less embarrassed that they're not as fast.
• I'm not afraid to fail a tots 1 kid if they can't go on their own, but I won't necessarily fail them because they can't do a perfect swizzle. They'll re-learn and get closer to mastering pretty much all the skills in Tots 2 through Pre-Alpha/Alpha, but if they can't skate well on their own in the first place they can't learn those skills.
• If a kid is crying get them off the ice immediately. They're a distraction to you and the other kids and aren't going to learn anything through their tears. I don't care if they parent tries to force them back on the ice. They stay off until they stop crying and are ready to learn. If they're crying because they're too scared and can't get back on the ice that day we offer them a refund/drop from the class. If they're crying because they fell we get them ice or recommend they get checked out by a doctor depending on the situation. This helps crowd control because it means everyone is spending less time with the crying skater and less time skating around them.
• Keep the skaters as far away as possible from each other (at least an arm's distance). Boys in particular like to crash into each other, push/drag each other down, or play intense games of tag. I think there's a rhyme that goes along with this?

For actual teaching:

• Keep it simple and in kid terms: For swizzles I like to say they're skating around a basketball (since kids play with them). Some other instructors I know call them pizza (toes together) and ice cream (heels together). My instructor back in the 90s said your heels kiss then you move your feet so your toes can kiss too. For keeping their arms up we tell them to pretend they're holding onto scooter handlebars or pressing them onto a table. Things like that.
• Figure out what they like. These are boys, so maybe they like hockey, basketball, paw patrol, power rangers, whatever, and use that to your advantage.
• Figure out what games they know and use those: we like Red Light Green Light, Simon Says, follow the leader, and playground games like that.
• If there is no appropriate game, come up with one. We have a problem of kids clinging to walls or relying on the wall to stop, so I play the "No Walls" game. The skaters have to snowplow stop before reaching the wall (but within reach of the wall) and they can't touch the wall between trips across the ice. What happens if they touch the wall or use the wall to stop varies by coach. I just call them out on it (Jackson, are we supposed to touch the wall? Isn't it covered in lava? Let's step away from it!) other coaches make them wait five seconds after the other skaters have started to go across the ice.
• Do exactly as the kids are supposed to be doing. Have your arms up. Put your hands on your knees when appropriate. When they're swizzling around the diamond you drew, swizzle around a diamond you drew for yourself. When you're teaching them one on one show them what you are doing.
• Give feedback in real time. If they're not doing a swizzle right as they practice across the ice go up and demonstrate for them and do the move with them.
• If there's practice time after, tell them to show you a skill each week. That is, if you were teaching stops, tell them to come up to you during the 15 minutes of practice time and show you a good stop. That way you can encourage them to practice and have a bit of one-on-one time with each kid to reinforce what you taught on an individual level. It also encourages them to focus on practicing one skill at a time rather than

Idk there's probably a lot more I could add in here, but I can't remember it all since it's been a couple months since I taught any classes.

OMG, THIS IS AWESOME! Thank you!

I'm a helper on LTS, so I'll be helping with this Tots/Basic 1 class. However, I'm going to pass all this along to my daughter since she's the lead and she needs to start making her own lesson plans for the littles.

 

[Willin]

@Jozet I thought of a few more things while making dinner:

Individualize your teaching as much as you can in a group setting. If one kid is going way too fast tell them to go slowly and take small steps. The other kid across the rink who is too scared to go fast might need to be told to go faster and take big steps. One kid might be too stiff on a two-foot spin while the other is all loosey-goosey. It's hard, but try to make time for individual feedback to each kid, even if it's only a word or two.

Some common Tots problems I see:

• Swizzles are too big - like doing the splits or not getting their feet together big. This is where basketball comes in - I tell them to make their swizzles the size of a basketball or soccer ball, not the size of a hula hoop. Some of the less abstract kids might just need to be told/shown to make them tiny. (Again, for the rare kid that does them too small, the ball reference can help them figure out how much bigger to make it). Always show them and watch to make sure they're getting your point.
• Looking at their feet/looking around. I have a few strategies. Some kids (older ones usually) get it when I say "you go where you're looking - if you look down, you'll go down and fall." Younger kids generally should be given a target. I like to do the parents in the bleachers, hockey banners, or some other target they can see regardless of how tall they are. Being high up those targets also encourage them to look up and not down at the ice.
• Wild arms - you can tell them to keep their arms up all you want, but it won't necessarily help. If their arms are flailing I usually immediately tell them to put their hands on their knees. Otherwise I like to do the demonstration. I show them that if my left arm is down I lean to the left (overexaggerated of course) and same with the right. I will also sometimes hold my hands out in front as a target for them to reach for across the ice. If they're arms aren't up, they can't low five my hands. Especially with the noodly kids (I was one) I like to do that the whole way across the ice.
• Get them involved! Tell funny stories or make kid jokes. Overexaggerate everything so they laugh. Ask about their favorite animals, etc. I found sometimes just talking to a slower kid all the way across the ice to distract them from their fear can go a long way into getting them more confident with their skating.
• Switch it up - not just to make sure they learn the material, but also so they don't get bored. They'll stop listening or focusing on perfect swizzle technique the 2nd or 3rd time across. You can always loop back if you need to.
• Finish every lesson with a game. This allows the kids to review what they learned so far and helps them put everything together. (Eg. Step -> Hop -> swizzle -> stop -> spin -> stop -> step -> dip -> turn backwards -> wiggle to the wall) You can do drive-by-coaching ("Good swizzles!" or "push harder!") in the middle of the game, but ultimately it's just a great way to get the kids to leave happy.

And last but not least:
GET THE PARENTS AWAY. My skating director banned parents from the boards (although they can be behind the glass). There are so many kids I've had in tots that can't learn because the parent is distracting them, they want to stay on the wall by the parent, they're afraid of falling while their parent is watching, etc.
If you can't distract the kid away from looking at mom/dad, strategically teach things or switch your direction on the ice so the kiddo can't be distracted (ie. facing backwards going towards the parents and facing forwards away from the parents). If the parent is being actively disruptive like some of the parents we have that try to coach their kids from the boards during lessons, ask the floater/skating director/other parent to kindly ask the parent to move away from the boards or into the lobby so they can't talk to their kid during the lesson.

 

[GarrAargHrumph]

If you have trouble with the kids bunching up/being too close to each other, draw something on the ice - smiley faces, spiders, or circles - that are separated as you wish the kids to be, in 1, 2 or 3 lines, depending on size of class. Then when you need the kids to "line up" or similar, have them go to their smiley face. Instant organization.

If you have trouble with the kids getting too close to the boards or touching them, or touching other kids, tell them that that thing is electric, and so they can't touch it. Let them know that you're just pretending, then repeat that it's electric and they can't touch it. Works a charm.

My classes are 30 minutes. I spend about 15-20 minutes reviewing/teaching the skills for the level, and adding in some beginning work on the skills from the next level. Then the final 15-10 minutes of the class, we do all the skills again, as part of a game. My favorite is Simon Says. Red Light/Green Light also works (with red light stop, green light march forward, yellow light glide, purple light whatever you want, pink light something else, etc...) And What Time Is It, Mr. Fox?

If you let the kids be Simon (or the leader of Red Light, Green Light), the way it works best is if you start off as Simon, and run them through all the skills. Then pick a kid to be Simon at random (ask who wants to be Simon, then I close my eyes and seem to randomly pick one of them). Then I stand with that kid while they pick something for the other kids to do. I'll call it out if the kid is a quiet kid. I let each Simon do 2-3 moves each, then I switch kids. This way, no one kid is standing around for very long, and each kid that wants to be Simon gets to be Simon.

Since I can't remember the names of the kids, I pretend that I don't remember anyone's name. I look at kid 1, ask him if his name is "dinosaur". When they laugh and say no, I ask what their name is. They tell me, I repeat it, laughing, saying "of course, of course", then check them off. Kid 2, I ask if their name is "Butterfly". Repeat. Makes it a game.

When I have an assistant, if I have kids who have trouble falling down/getting back up, or moving without a cone or similar (my rink uses cones), I split the class into two groups - kids who are still working on those skills, and those who are not - and have my assistant do specific things with the beginners. Goal is to get the kids to be able to fall down/get up, and to be off the cone quickly. Once everyone can do the get down/get up and march without a cone, we're all one class again from that point forward. And even when we're split, once we start playing the game, we all play it as one class.

 

[ZilphaK]

@Jozet I thought of a few more things while making dinner:

Individualize your teaching as much as you can in a group setting. If one kid is going way too fast tell them to go slowly and take small steps. The other kid across the rink who is too scared to go fast might need to be told to go faster and take big steps. One kid might be too stiff on a two-foot spin while the other is all loosey-goosey. It's hard, but try to make time for individual feedback to each kid, even if it's only a word or two.

Some common Tots problems I see:

• Swizzles are too big - like doing the splits or not getting their feet together big. This is where basketball comes in - I tell them to make their swizzles the size of a basketball or soccer ball, not the size of a hula hoop. Some of the less abstract kids might just need to be told/shown to make them tiny. (Again, for the rare kid that does them too small, the ball reference can help them figure out how much bigger to make it). Always show them and watch to make sure they're getting your point.
• Looking at their feet/looking around. I have a few strategies. Some kids (older ones usually) get it when I say "you go where you're looking - if you look down, you'll go down and fall." Younger kids generally should be given a target. I like to do the parents in the bleachers, hockey banners, or some other target they can see regardless of how tall they are. Being high up those targets also encourage them to look up and not down at the ice.
• Wild arms - you can tell them to keep their arms up all you want, but it won't necessarily help. If their arms are flailing I usually immediately tell them to put their hands on their knees. Otherwise I like to do the demonstration. I show them that if my left arm is down I lean to the left (overexaggerated of course) and same with the right. I will also sometimes hold my hands out in front as a target for them to reach for across the ice. If they're arms aren't up, they can't low five my hands. Especially with the noodly kids (I was one) I like to do that the whole way across the ice.
• Get them involved! Tell funny stories or make kid jokes. Overexaggerate everything so they laugh. Ask about their favorite animals, etc. I found sometimes just talking to a slower kid all the way across the ice to distract them from their fear can go a long way into getting them more confident with their skating.
• Switch it up - not just to make sure they learn the material, but also so they don't get bored. They'll stop listening or focusing on perfect swizzle technique the 2nd or 3rd time across. You can always loop back if you need to.
• Finish every lesson with a game. This allows the kids to review what they learned so far and helps them put everything together. (Eg. Step -> Hop -> swizzle -> stop -> spin -> stop -> step -> dip -> turn backwards -> wiggle to the wall) You can do drive-by-coaching ("Good swizzles!" or "push harder!") in the middle of the game, but ultimately it's just a great way to get the kids to leave happy.

And last but not least:
GET THE PARENTS AWAY. My skating director banned parents from the boards (although they can be behind the glass). There are so many kids I've had in tots that can't learn because the parent is distracting them, they want to stay on the wall by the parent, they're afraid of falling while their parent is watching, etc.
If you can't distract the kid away from looking at mom/dad, strategically teach things or switch your direction on the ice so the kiddo can't be distracted (ie. facing backwards going towards the parents and facing forwards away from the parents). If the parent is being actively disruptive like some of the parents we have that try to coach their kids from the boards during lessons, ask the floater/skating director/other parent to kindly ask the parent to move away from the boards or into the lobby so they can't talk to their kid during the lesson.

Yes, thank you. At our old rink, the parents could line all along the glass behind the level 1 skaters, and it was SO HARD to convince them that the absolutely best thing would be to watch from the stands or go have a cocoa in the lobby. Sometimes I need to tell them that we PROMISE that if we need Mom and Dad, we'll come get them from the stands.

 

[ZilphaK]

If you have trouble with the kids bunching up/being too close to each other, draw something on the ice - smiley faces, spiders, or circles - that are separated as you wish the kids to be, in 1, 2 or 3 lines, depending on size of class. Then when you need the kids to "line up" or similar, have them go to their smiley face. Instant organization.

If you have trouble with the kids getting too close to the boards or touching them, or touching other kids, tell them that that thing is electric, and so they can't touch it. Let them know that you're just pretending, then repeat that it's electric and they can't touch it. Works a charm.

My classes are 30 minutes. I spend about 15-20 minutes reviewing/teaching the skills for the level, and adding in some beginning work on the skills from the next level. Then the final 15-10 minutes of the class, we do all the skills again, as part of a game. My favorite is Simon Says. Red Light/Green Light also works (with red light stop, green light march forward, yellow light glide, purple light whatever you want, pink light something else, etc...) And What Time Is It, Mr. Fox?

If you let the kids be Simon (or the leader of Red Light, Green Light), the way it works best is if you start off as Simon, and run them through all the skills. Then pick a kid to be Simon at random (ask who wants to be Simon, then I close my eyes and seem to randomly pick one of them). Then I stand with that kid while they pick something for the other kids to do. I'll call it out if the kid is a quiet kid. I let each Simon do 2-3 moves each, then I switch kids. This way, no one kid is standing around for very long, and each kid that wants to be Simon gets to be Simon.

Since I can't remember the names of the kids, I pretend that I don't remember anyone's name. I look at kid 1, ask him if his name is "dinosaur". When they laugh and say no, I ask what their name is. They tell me, I repeat it, laughing, saying "of course, of course", then check them off. Kid 2, I ask if their name is "Butterfly". Repeat. Makes it a game.

THank you! Sending to my kiddo.

 

[Aussie Willy]

Great suggestions here. When I have looked after little ones or judged tests, when you teach them to fall over and get up, I always make them throw their hands in the air and say very loudly "Oh no I have fallen over". Corny but you can definitely make a game of it.

Around Easter you could do an egg and spoon race. Don't use real eggs. Or make them skate with gloves on their head.

As well as the other drawing suggestions, pineapples and rabbits with skates are good. Or you can get the chalk pens which can be used on the ice and get them to follow tracings.

 

[ZilphaK]

Great suggestions here. When I have looked after little ones or judged tests, when you teach them to fall over and get up, I always make them throw their hands in the air and say very loudly "Oh no I have fallen over". Corny but you can definitely make a game of it.

Around Easter you could do an egg and spoon race. Don't use real eggs. Or make them skate with gloves on their head.

As well as the other drawing suggestions, pineapples and rabbits with skates are good. Or you can get the chalk pens which can be used on the ice and get them to follow tracings.

Thank you! And yes, that was a question I had about what to use to draw on the ice. I was thinking markers, but didn't think of chalk pens.