Roller Skating: Safe Stops and Turns
An intro and skill-builder in skating as both a fun activity and a way to get around town: ready position, safe falling, striding, heel brake or T-stop and turns around cones. Students work on balance, body control and injury prevention.
How to play
- Gear check (4 minutes): helmet buckled, knee pads, elbow pads and wrist guards on properly; nobody skates without all of it.
- Ready position and safe falls: knees bent, weight forward; practice falling forward onto the knee pads and getting up from the side. 4 minutes.
- V-stride with relaxed arms on a 20-yard straightaway, there and back; group students by level in two lanes. 6 minutes.
- Stopping: heel brake with the braking skate forward and, for those ready, the T-stop; stop inside a zone marked with cones. 6 minutes.
- Turning course: slalom through 6 cones set 6 feet apart and a tight turn around a final cone. 6 minutes, rotating.
- Final 4-minute challenge: full course with stride, slalom and a stop in the zone without touching cones.
Rules
- Helmets and pads are required the whole time.
- Everyone skates in the same direction and passes on the left with a call-out.
- If you fall, get up quickly or move to the edge.
Variations
Easier
Practice striding and the heel brake in a straight line next to a wall or railing.
Standard
Stride, heel brake or T-stop and the cone slalom.
Harder
Add skating backward and an emergency stop on the whistle.
Adaptations
- A student in a wheelchair does the same course in the chair, working on turns and stops in the marked zones.
- For students who are deaf or hard of hearing, stop signals are given with a flag or raised arm as well as the whistle.
- First-time skaters start with a partner walking beside them, without holding on.
Learning goals
- Hold a stable stance and fall safely.
- Stop and turn under control in a marked space.
- Value skating as a way to have fun and get around town.
Equipment for a class of 25
- roller skates: 25
- helmets: 25
- knee, elbow and wrist pads: 25
- cones: 16
Teacher tip
Reserve the skates early and have a backup loan plan; always split students by level to avoid collisions. Check that the surface is dry and free of sand before starting.
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