First laps on the ice · Tips
First laps on the ice in Kannapolis: practical tips
None of this is complicated. All of it is the difference between a good hour and a difficult one.
Warm layers matter more than anything else. A cold child asks to leave long before a tired one does.
A Kannapolis school holiday runs out of ideas by about day three. This is a day-three answer rather than a day-one one.
Before you leave the house
Twenty minutes is a long first session. Confidence grows faster over three short visits than over one long one.
Let the child choose what to do first even when it is the thing you would have chosen last. The order matters less than the choosing.
When you arrive
Falling is part of it and is less dramatic than parents fear. Ice is slippery at walking speed, which is the speed a beginner moves at.
A first lap is mostly about the wall. Children hold it, let go of it, grab it again, and somewhere in the third lap they forget it is there.
While you are there
The advice that helps most is the least technical: bend the knees, look ahead rather than down, and take short steps instead of long glides.
If two children are visiting together, plan for them to split up. Doing different things in the same room is the point of a room with different things in it.
On the way home
Warm layers matter more than anything else. A cold child asks to leave long before a tired one does.
Twenty minutes is a long first session. Confidence grows faster over three short visits than over one long one.
Questions parents ask
What age can a child start skating?
Children start at very different ages. What matters more is whether they are willing to hold a rail and shuffle.
How long should a first session be?
Short. Twenty minutes of trying beats an hour of being cold and frustrated.
What should they wear?
Layers, long sleeves, gloves. Gloves are the item most often forgotten and most missed.
Where is New Life Entertainment?
Two centres: 433 Opry Mills Drive, Nashville TN 37214, and 8111 Concord Mills Blvd, Concord NC 28027.
How do I get in touch?
By phone on +1 (424) 387-6232 or +1 (615) 968-4925, or by e-mail at info@newlife-entertainment.com.
Planning your visit in Kannapolis
Parents from Kannapolis tend to ask the same first question: how long will this hold their attention. Long enough to be worth the drive, and short enough to leave while they still want more.
Take the photographs early. The best ones happen in the first fifteen minutes, before anybody is tired.
A short visit that ends while they still want more beats a long one that ends in a meltdown, every time.
Weekends bring more of Kannapolis out at once. If the schedule allows a weekday, take it; the same visit is quieter and the machines wait for nobody in particular.
The practical details
- XCAV ZONE — 433 Opry Mills Drive, Nashville TN 37214: four child-operated machines over a ball pit.
- ICE PARK — 8111 Concord Mills Blvd, Concord NC 28027: a real rink with bumper cars on the ice.
- Opening hours — 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM Monday to Saturday, 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM on Sunday.
- Phone — +1 (424) 387-6232 · +1 (615) 968-4925
- E-mail — info@newlife-entertainment.com
If a visit needs planning around a date, a group or a long drive, the centre is easiest to reach by phone: +1 (424) 387-6232 or +1 (615) 968-4925.