Kids Club classes
When? One Saturday/Sunday/Wednesday (summer holiday) 10.00am-11.15am
Next class: Saturday 7th August 10.00am – 11.15pm

Where? The Broad Walk, Kensington Gardens.
How Much? £10.

These fun filled group classes are suitable for kids aged 7-11 of any ability level. Complete beginers are welcome but all skaters must be able to stand and roll unassisted in order to attend the class. No level of proficiency is needed and we expect most skaters to have trouble stopping, however if they cannot stant without being held then we recommend a private lesson before attending the group class. Its an ideal way to get your child started on inline skates or for them to try it out before investing in all the kit.

Using games and rolling activities we will guide your child through the basic skills of inline skating, ensuring they have lots of fun and plenty of movement. We will focus on skate safety, stopping methods, and giving them a variety of exercises to support their learning.

Bookings are essential for each class, to make one please click on a date below:

Summer Holiday  Kids’ Club -  10.00am – 11.15pm

Saturday 7thAugust
Thurdsay 12th August
Wednesday 18th August
Sunday 22nd  August
Wednesday 1st September 
Saturday 4th September

If your child wants to join this class but is still unable to skate without holding a hand then it is advisable to have a private lesson first and then see. Usually this is enough to impove their standard so they can join the group class unaided in future. Children instructors in Skatefresh are; Asha, Maja, Matt, Nick and Nic (see instructor page for their details and contact directly for private lessons).

We insist that all participants wear recreational skates with a heel brake (which we will be learning to use), plus full protective gear (knee and wrist pads and a helmet).

A note about kids inline skates

There are many brands of childrens inline skates, some are better than others. If children come to classes wearing all pastic skates (usually at less than £35), it is unlikely they will be able to learn very thoroughly. These plastic skates do not have high ‘rollability’ and many manouvers must be learned while free rolling. To test your children’s skates, hold it up and spin one of the wheels with your hand as fast as you can. It should free roll for at least 3 seconds. If it doest and stops quickly then whatever your child does, however great their technique, their skates are not designed to roll. This is worth mentioning as when this happens in class it can be very disappointing for them (as they have the expectation of rolling).

Learning to stop on skates is not possible without the ability to free roll. Many parents think non-rolly skates are benefitial as they ‘don’t go too fast’. However we believe they hinder progress and safety as the child cannot learn to stop as their skates stop all by themselves.

 Private instruction
If you would like to arrange private lessons for your kids, please see our private tuition page where you’ll find instructions to book with one of the below:
Asha – Fridays and weekends
Maja – Weekends  and week days (currently away till March 2010)
Nick – Weekends
Nic – Weekdays, short notice and weekends

The Times newspaper wrote the following article, about the benefits of inline skating, as a non competitive sport for children. Read the full article here.