Is a Roller Skating Party Appropriate for a 6th Birthday? Tips From a Mom Who Tried It
The back of my minivan smelled like vanilla frosting and grape juice the morning of my daughter Lila’s 6th birthday, and I was already second-guessing everything. I’d spent two weeks listening to friends and family tell me I was crazy to book a roller skating party for a bunch of 6 year olds. They’d all fall, they’d cry, half of them wouldn’t even be able to stand up, I should just book the bounce house like every other parent on the block. I’d paid the non-refundable deposit anyway, so I hauled the crumpled cake box and a bin of dinosaur and unicorn goodie bags into the rink, where the air already smelled like burnt popcorn and old rubber, and the disco ball was casting gold splotches all over the concrete floor.
Lila pulled on her new sparkly skates, sized up a little for room to grow, stood up, and immediately toppled onto her butt. She cackled so hard she snort-laughed, then pulled herself up on the wall, so I stopped panicking for five whole minutes. The first guest arrived five minutes early: Jax, Lila’s favorite friend from first grade, who’d never laced up a pair of skates before. His mom helped him get his skates tied, he took one step out from the bench, and fell hard. He sat there, lip trembling, and refused to move. He dragged himself back to the bench and announced he was done skating for the day. My sister, who’d come to help chaperone, leaned over and whispered, “Told you this was a mess.”
Before I could walk over to talk to Jax, Lila wobbled over holding one of the plastic skate walkers the rink lends out for new skaters. “I fell on my knee already and it only hurts when you cry,” she told him. “See?” She let go of the walker, wobbled three steps, fell again, and popped right back up grinning. Jax stared for a minute, then grabbed the handles of the walker and pulled himself up. Ten minutes later, he was slowly circling our reserved beginner area, laughing every time he stumbled.
A few more falls followed: one girl scraped her elbow, I pulled out a sparkly Hello Kitty band-aid, and she was back skating two minutes later. One boy spent the first 40 minutes sitting next to Jax’s mom eating pretzels, and no one bothered him. He said he just liked watching, and that was fine with me. After 45 minutes of skating, I herded everyone back to the rickety plastic tables, we took off skates, cut the cake, and opened presents. The only drama was that one kid dropped his whole frosting-covered slice on the floor, I gave him half of mine, and that was that.
When I was driving home, Lila asleep in the back with frosting on her chin and a plastic tiara askew on her head, I started thinking about all the warnings I’d gotten that 6 was too young for this. The main argument I’d seen online was that most 6 year olds don’t have the gross motor skills to skate, which is true. Most of them can’t do more than wobble around holding onto something. But that’s the point, isn’t it? 6 year olds are just getting used to what their bodies can do. They’re at that stage where they start noticing if they’re worse at something than their friends. But at a roller skating party for 6 year olds, literally everyone is bad at it. No one shows up already a pro. The kid who can run faster than everyone else at recess falls just as much as the kid who still trips over his own feet walking into the classroom. It levels the playing field in a way most birthday activities don’t.
I did a few small things that made the whole day work, that any parent considering this can copy. First, I called the rink ahead and asked for a reserved beginner area, which most rinks will give you for a small group of little kids for no extra charge. That kept us out of the way of teens zooming around the main rink doing tricks, which eliminated 90% of the collision risk. Second, I confirmed they had enough plastic skate walkers for half the group, which was all we needed. Third, I kept the whole party to an hour and a half, not the two hours the rink suggested. 6 year olds run out of energy fast, and an hour and a half was just enough time for skating, cake, and presents without anyone getting overtired and cranky. Fourth, I told all parents in the invite that no one had to skate if they didn’t want to, and I set up extra chairs with extra snacks right by the rink for anyone who wanted to sit out. No forcing, no pushing kids to do something that scares them, that’s the biggest thing that kept meltdowns to a minimum.
It’s not perfect, of course. Jax had a tiny bruise on his hip he didn’t even mention until the next day. One kid’s parent had to leave early because their son fell and twisted his ankle a little; it was just a mild sprain, he was running around at playgroup a few days later, but it was still a disruption. My favorite sneakers still have black rubber scuffs on the toe from where a wobbly 6 year old stepped on me, and we left three half-empty juice boxes at the rink I still haven’t gone back for.
I still get asked by other moms in my playgroup whether I’d do it again, whether a roller skating party is actually okay for a 6 year old. I tell them it depends. If your kid hates feeling unsteady, or if a lot of the guests have mobility needs that make skating hard, it’s definitely not for you. But if your kid has been begging to go skating, and you don’t mind a little mess and a few falls, it works way better than you’d think. Last weekend, we went back to the rink as a family, and Jax came with us. He didn’t even use the skate walker this time. He wobbled all over the place, fell at least a dozen times, and every time he just popped back up grinning. Lila still talks about her birthday party every night at dinner. I don’t think she remembers the cake or the presents that much. She remembers falling down a bunch and getting back up, and talking Jax into skating with her. That’s better than any perfectly smooth party I could have planned, anyway.
Please indicate: Thinking In Educating » Is a Roller Skating Party Appropriate for a 6th Birthday