First laps on the ice · Guide
First laps on the ice in Monroe: a parent guide
Everything below is the sort of thing you would want to know before the drive rather than after it.
Warm layers matter more than anything else. A cold child asks to leave long before a tired one does.
Families searching from Monroe are usually weighing one thing: whether it is worth the trip for an hour of something the children have not done before. The honest answer is that it depends on the child, and the rest of this page is about telling which.
What it actually is
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.
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.
Who it suits
Twenty minutes is a long first session. Confidence grows faster over three short visits than over one long one.
Photograph the machine as well as the child. In two years you will have forgotten what the room looked like.
What to expect
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.
Warm layers matter more than anything else. A cold child asks to leave long before a tired one does.
Before you go
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.
Tell a nervous child what is going to happen in the order it will happen. Surprise is the thing they mind, not the activity.
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.
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.
What are the opening hours?
10:00 AM to 8:00 PM Monday to Saturday, and 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM on Sunday.
Planning your visit in Monroe
Coming in from Monroe with more than one child, the useful thing to know is that the room does not need to be rationed - there is more than one thing to do at the same time.
Take the phone out of your pocket before they start rather than after. The moment worth filming is usually the first one.
Do not schedule anything immediately afterwards. An hour of concentrated play is tiring in a way that shows up in the car park, not in the room.
For a Monroe family the trip works best folded into something else - the shopping that was happening anyway, a birthday that needed a venue, a Saturday that needed a plan.
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.