5 Things to Remember When Booking Kids Surfing Lessons

Are your kids ready to learn how to surf? If so, you want to make sure the surfing lessons are fun and enjoyable, providing the best possible experience for your child while also being successful in the lesson.

Teaching children how to surf can be very fun and exciting. Kids will have the time of their lives catching their first waves. However, for some, their excitement can create a challenge focusing and focus is important when learning a highly interactive sport.

Here are 5 important items to keep in mind before your child fist surf lesson. 

Choose the right location and equipment

Choosing the right location and equipment is necessary to ensure a kids surfing lesson is fun and not frustrating for them. There are key factors to consider when looking at locations and equipment for kids. 

Location

Even if it’s convenient for you, taking children to a beach that is full of people can be very distracting and frustrating. Therefore, it’s best that you take them to a quieter beach where there are less people to get in the way and compete for waves. Choosing a more secluded beach will provide a better opportunity to catch waves, not be distracted by crowds providing fun and pleasurable experience.. 

Equipment

You also need to consider equipment when teaching kids how to surf. Children are obviously smaller than adults, so their boards need to be reflective of that. Make sure you get the right board for their height and skill level. You might even want to consider using boogie boards for the first few lessons which are soft and less likely to cause injury to your child until they’re ready to try a conventional fiberglass and resin surfboard. 

Spend time preparing them

Another important thing to remember is that preparation is key for children. Remind your child of the importance of  safety for them and others in the water. Spend a few minutes teaching kids paddling and standing techniques as well as proper surfing etiquette

Allow them to guide the lesson

Ever heard the phrase “children run on their own clock?” If so, then you know that children need to be in control of timing. You can’t force them to do something when they’re not ready or don’t want to. Therefore, always remember that children need to guide the lesson. If they get distracted that’s ok. Gently guide them back to the lesson and continue. Do not ever force your child to do something they don’t want to do. If you do they will not have fun which will make them not want to surf. Make it a fun, enjoyable experience and never force them to go surfing.

Exercise patience & kindness

This leads us to the next thing to remember – always exercise patience and kindness. With their high energy, children can be hard to work with. A task that should take no more than a few minutes to teach can take hours if the kids are rambunctious and rowdy. 

Therefore, walk into each surfing lesson knowing that things may not go according to plan. You might only get halfway through the lesson before it’s time to stop. That’s okay! Never force your child  to learn something when they’re not ready. It’s worse than teaching them anything at all. Always show kindness and patience and know that the kids are in control. 

Let them learn

Lastly, always remember to let kids be kids and have fun! The lesson is important but so is the kid’s enjoyment. Make things exciting and fun, get them interested in the lesson, and you’ll be surprised by just how easy everything will go! 

Surfing lessons on Oahu

Teaching kids how to surf is not an easy task but we’re up for the challenge at Surf N Sea! We offer surfing lessons for people of all ages and skill sets. We have trained professionals running the lessons and they are fully prepared to adjust lessons as necessary depending on the age group. At the end of the day, it’s all about having fun and learning a new sport together!

For more information on our surfing lessons and our surfing rentals, contact us today. We’d love to hear from you!