Going on a Ski Holiday can be a fun adventure and with the right planning can be a fabulous Life Changing Experience. Planning a ski holiday starts well before you get to the snow or even where you’ve decided to go. Here’s my Top 7 Tips to do before going on that holiday and bringing your child to Lessons for the first time. (It might even be sage advice for the seasoned veteran.)

1. Involve your child in sport. Organised or not, this has more than one benefit and may include muscle use, socialisation and independence, amongst a multitude of other things. Skiing is a sport after all and active kids get more out of it.

Sports doesn’t necessarily mean organised team sports like Soccer, Rugby, Basketball, Netball etc, although these are all good. It also includes all sorts of other physical activities like Dancing, Ballet, Jazz Ballet, Martial Arts, Gymnastics, Swimming, Running, Horse riding etc. Even the mere encouragement of your child playing on a skateboard, roller blades/skates, rip stick etc. is so much better than doing nothing, as the muscles used in these activities greatly improves your child’s ability to reappropriate these balancing skills. Skiing involves the use of muscles that don’t get used in everyday life and if your child’s muscles aren’t used at all, then the pace of the lesson is considerably slower and the perceived value of the lesson is less. (Working in Canada, it’s interesting to see how quickly kids pick up skiing if they ice skate or play ice hockey. There is a dramatic and noticeable difference between those that do and those that don’t.)

It also aids in the socialisation and independence of your child, allowing them the opportunity to meet other kids and how to behave and interact in group situations. (Private Lessons are great for children in the process of socialisation, 3-6 years old.) This allows your child to get used to the fact that you, their parents, aren’t always going to be around, but will return to pick them up afterwards. This is absolutely critical for the nurture of a positive sense of independence, especially for younger children. Your child can then focus on what’s happening in the lesson, not your absence and be comfortable in the fact you’ll return. Separation anxiety can, in my experience, be evident in children as old as 8, but not that often. And is increasingly more evident in their parents. And no, Nintendo, Wii and PS3 are not sports.

2. Allow a rest day between travelling and skiing. This is especially true if your children are young and skiing for the first time. There are a lot of new things to get accustomed to in their new environment and need time to make these adjustments. These exciting new situations, especially the first life changing experience, may include Snow (whether on the ground, falling from the sky or being blasted out of snow guns), the Mountains, the Elements, the Views. These all conspire to distract the first time Skiing child from the fact they’re in a lesson. (And if you’ve have paid for lessons, and they haven’t done this then familiarisation of the environment becomes part of the lesson. I’ve had frustrated parents assert that my job is to ‘teach them how to ski, not play in the snow.’) If you’re on the yearly ski holiday, still allow for a good nights sleep on arrival and every night of the holiday. Here is a great article on the value of sleep for children.

3. Beat the queues. Use the Rest/acclimatisation day to organise rental equipment, lift tickets and anything else which may take time and might need to queue for in the morning. Doing this the day before you start allows you time to do it and not feel rushed.

4. Feed them a Substantial Breakfast. It may sound pretty basic, but the amount of kids that turn up for lessons without having a substantial breakfast is astounding. Skiing is a high energy sport and learning in an alpine environment can be challenging. Getting things organised and/or done the day before helps the first morning of skiing to be not as hectic as it needs to be and allows time to eat. Coco Pops doesn’t count on their own as the sugar wears off very quickly and is really frustrating for all involved when kids are asking if it’s lunch time 30 minutes in to a 2.5 hour lesson.

5. Leave early as getting to the mountain and lessons could take longer than you think. Even the best laid plans can be thwarted by something minor.

6. Put snacks in your child’s pockets. Keeping warm and energised is one of the keys for learning and having fun. Putting snacks in your child’s pockets for them to eat on the lift ride up helps to maintain energy levels and aids in concentration. Maybe muesli or granola bars for the morning and then something sweet for the afternoon if they are in all day. Be aware, though, that some Children’s Facilities are Nut Free Zones.

7. Pack sunscreen, spare gloves and other equipment like goggles. If possible, have a back-up pair of gloves. Sometimes there is precipitation that resembles rain more than it resembles snow. Putting on cold, wet gloves after lunch is no fun to put back on your hands, nor your child’s.

8. I know I said Top 7 but get lessons to at least learn how to stop. The skills of skiing are counter intuitive and without knowing exactly how to stop – or teaching your children how to stop – you may be a liability on the slopes. Also, a Lesson when exploring new terrain is advisable, as the excitement of going up a new lift to steeper or more challenging terrain sometimes means that what has been learned is quickly forgotten. The last place you want to spend the rest of your new-found holiday is hospital via the Patrol Hut. (Or the psychiatric ward!)

Have fun, stay safe and see you out on the slopes!!