Our SECRET Way to Teach Toddlers to Ski (that will save your sanity and back)

Are you itching to get your little one out on skis and aren’t quite sure where to start? You’re in the right place! As a mom of 5 and professional ski instructor, I’ve spent a good chunk of the last 2 decades teaching kids to ski, and toddlers are some of my favorites!

While many people will try to convince you to wait until your kids are older to teach them to ski, I’ll be here to cheer you and your little skier on the whole way. Four of my own kids started skiing at just 18 months, and for our family, it was the best decision ever. I’ll walk you through the steps of how we teach toddlers how to ski, so you can teach your own kids to ski all on your own.

Setting Realistic Expectations When Skiing with Toddlers

When skiing with toddlers, it’s important to keep your expectations in check, as it’s a whole different experience compared to skiing with older kids. Don’t expect your little one to last all day on the slopes, especially in the beginning. Their energy will likely run out quickly, and that’s completely normal! You will be spending all of your time on the bunny hill or in the lodge drinking how cocoa, so go into the day mentally prepared for that. I highly recommend starting at a smaller ski resort since fewer people and closer access can make the whole experience less stressful.

Some toddlers are done after 1-2 runs, while others might surprise you and ski for a bit longer before needing a break. The best approach is to set low expectations and celebrate any progress. Whether they ski for 10 minutes or an hour, consider it a win and make sure to praise them for their efforts!

Start with the Basics: Gear and Preparation

Before hitting the slopes, make sure your toddler is dressed properly and has the right gear. Comfortable kids are happy kids, so investing in warm, waterproof gear is essential. Remember that most toddlers don’t have great communication skills, and probably won’t be able to really let you know that they’re getting cold before they turn miserable. I’ve found that keeping kids warm and making sure their gear fits right is one of the easiest things that parents can do to help their kids have a great ski day.

Focus on wool or synthetic base layers, warm mittens, a good fitting helmet, and proper fitting ski boots. We also LOVE putting toddlers in snowsuits since they’re so easy to get on and off (for those emergency bathroom breaks) and they’re much warmer than a coat and snow pants. For teaching, two simple tools are game changers: the Edgie Wedgie and a ski harness. Both of these toolds help toddlers learn control and balance, which are the foundations of skiing (and they’re much more affordable than ski school).

Teachking Toddlers to Ski

Below, I’m going to share A LOT about teaching toddlers to ski. Fist, I’ll tell you the steps that you need to introduce when teaching little kids hwo to ski. Second, I’ll share with you the more advanced way to teach toddlers to ski, that’s one of the most effective methods ever! Keep reading to see what’s a good fit for you and your little skier!

Step 1: Teaching Toddlers to Balance on Skis

The most important skill to teach a toddler on skis is balance. At this age, don’t expect them to master turns or stopping right away—focus on getting kids comfortable standing on their skis and moving a little.

The first thing to do is to teach kids how to shuffle their skis around on the snow. You can do this at the base of a ski area, in your backyard or at a local park. Simply walk back and forth and gradually get kids to try gliding a little bit. The main goal is to get them to learn to balance in their ski boots with their skis on.

Step 2: Progress to Speed Control and Stopping

Once your child is comfortable balancing, it’s time to introduce basic control—primarily stopping. The Edgie Wedgie is your best friend here, as it helps toddlers maintain the wedge shape with their skis, which is essential for stopping, without them having to think too much about it.

Start by demonstrating how you make a wedge (or “pizza”) with your skis to slow down. Encourage them to copy you, making small adjustments with their skis.

In all honesty, few toddlers have the muscule memory to make a wedge and hold it for any extended period of time which is why we recommend the edgie wedgie wo much. When kids have an edgie wedgie on, all they have to do is to spread their legs apart, and it will naturally hold their skis in a wedge shape.

Remember, toddlers respond better to actions than technical terms, so keep it simple and use fun language like “pizza” for stopping and “French fries” for skiing straight. With a few of our kids, we just tell them to make their skis big (spread them out), and to make them little (bring them together), and those terms were easier for them.

The bigger the kids ski wedge is, the better they will stop. When kids are learning how to stop, play lots of games to show them how to make a big wedge, a small wedge, or french fries to stop, go slow, or go fast. Red light, green light is a great game for this, especially if you throw in a yellow light to get kids to slow down!

Should You Use a Ski Harness to Control Kids Speed??

This is a pretty controversial topic, but after all my yeras as a ski instructor, hopefulyl I can offer some unique insight. I think that a ski harness can be a great tool, but it has to be used correctly. WHen you’re using a harness correctly, the leashes should be loose most of the time and kids shouldn’t be relying on the harness to do all of the slowing down or direction changes. A harness is really there a as back-up for kids who don’t have their stopping or turing perfect, so that parents can keep the kids and other skisers safe. If you’re relying on a harness to slow your child down, they’re going to quickly develop some really bad habits that will be hard to break. Before investing in a ski harness, read, “How to Use a Ski Harness the Right Way”.

Our Secret Method for Teaching Toddlers to Ski EASILY!!

Although you might not have seen other parents using this technique to teach kids to ski, we’ve found it to be the most effective.  I first learned it when teaching ski school and it’s been the most effective way we’ve found to teach toddlers and babies to ski. We’ve used it most successfully to teach a 1 year old to ski, teach a 2 year old to ski, and teach a 3 year old to ski. It works best with kids who are 4 years old or younger (sometimes a small 5-year-old) because bigger kids make it really difficult to ski backwards like this. This technique is pretty simple and takes the guesswork out of how to ski with a toddler.

What you need to know before you try and teach your own kids to ski

Now before I begin showing you our secret technique for how we teach a toddler to ski, note that this technique should only be used by people who are VERY comfortable skiing on their own.  You will spend almost all of your time skiing backwards, so you need to be pretty good at that and also have a good awareness of the mountain (while skiing backwards 🙂 and fast reaction time.

Also, it’s important to remember that kids will fall A LOT when they’re learning how to ski.  You can teach them how to get up on skis, but having a ski harness on your kids will be invaluable.  We have our youngest always ski with this harness because it has a big handle at the back, which has saved my back after a long day on the hill.  It also makes it so much easier to put them onto the lift if you can just pull them up by the handle. Check out this review of the best ski harnesses for kids to pick the right child ski harness.

1.  Start skiing in a backwards wedge

This will be your position for the entire time you’re teaching toddlers to ski using this ski school technique for toddlers skiing. The parent skis backward, and the child faces down the hill. If you’re new to skiing backwards, you’ll want to have some good practice in before you try to teach kids to ski this way.

2.  Have your child straddle your skis

Your goal is to have their edgie wedgie pressing up against your boot or binding like shown in the picture below.  With their edgie wedgie pressed up against your binding, you are in total control of their speed and where they go.  This set up is especially good for toddlers because they are close enough to you that they don’t get nervous or afraid, but they’re not so close that they can grab onto you.  Remember, our goal is to teach them how to balance and to focus, so this is the perfect position to ski with kids. They’ll be standing up independantly, so they’ll build great foundational skills that they’ll be building on for years to come.

Learn all about the pros and cons of edgie wedgie use!

3.  Ski backwards making S-turns

You do this so that your child gets a feel for what they should be doing on the hill.  Since their edgie wedgie is pressed up against your binding, they will go where you go.  Do this from the very beginning so that your kids learn that you turn whenever you are skiing, which is one of the most important habits kids can develop on skis.

When kids are skiing down the hill with you like this, you are in complete control of where they go, control theirl speed, and can directly face them so you can play games. As kids get comfortable gliding on the snow like this, teach them how to stop in a wedge, and soon they’ll be skiing independantly.

At that point, continue to ski backwards, but have kids ski completely independantly. The goal is to gradually get kids more and more comfortable with skiing correctly, so that they have good skills and habits from the beginning, and always know they’re safe and being looked after.

Why is this a good way to teach kids to ski?

This is one of the best ways to teach toddlers to ski because it forces the child to balance on their skis and makes skiing for toddlers much easier.  They have to stand up all by themselves as they get used to the feel and movement of their skis.  It shows them what it feels like to turn and change direction as well.  Also, because you are right in front of them, it not only helps them feel safe and secure, but blocks out a lot of distractions, teaching them that when they ski, they need to look at Mom or Dad (trust me, that’s a lifesaver down the road).

As you child gets older and increases in confidence, this is also a great way to teach them to stop in a safe and controlled way (read more on getting your kids to STOP here).  Since their edgie wedgie is just pushed up against your binding, if they stop their skis on their own, they really will stop even if you keep going!

Make Learning to Ski Fun

Toddlers learn best when they’re having fun, so make sure to turn skiing into a game. You can play simple ski games like:

• Follow the Leader: Ski in front of your toddler and have them follow your movements. This not only helps with balance but teaches them to turn by following you.
• Car Ski Races: Pretend your toddler is driving a car, and they turn the steering wheel when they make ski turns.
• Red Light, Green Light: Stand downhill and call out “green light” to go, “yellow light” to slow down, and “red light” to stop. This helps them practice controlling their speed and stopping in a fun way.

If you need more ideas, check out this article on the best games to help kids learn to ski.

Keep Your Patience and Stay Positive

Teaching a toddler to ski requires a lot of patience. They’re going to fall, get frustrated, and may even refuse to ski at times. Your job is to keep the mood light and positive. Celebrate the small wins—whether it’s a good run, balancing for a few seconds, or even just getting the ski boots on without a meltdown.

Remember, the goal is to foster a love for skiing. If it’s not fun, take a break or switch gears. Don’t push too hard, and always listen to your child’s cues.

Advantages to teaching kids to ski at a young age

You might be wondering at this point if it’s even worth teaching a toddler or young kids how to ski.  It absolutely is.  Although it does take longer for kids to learn when they are really young, we’ve found that once they hit about age 3, their progress really takes off so much faster than all their peers.

Worst way to teach kids to ski (what NOT to do):

If you’re not going to teach your kids to ski correctly, then you should put them in ski school vs teaching them yourself (and the technique above is just one of the many ways you can teach your kids skiing).

Here’s what not to do when teaching kids to ski

1. Just skiing with them between your legs and hold onto their backs (you will end up with a rag-doll child in .01 seconds).  Remember, the goal is to teach them how to balance, and this takes that away.  Only ski with kids between your legs if they are too tired to ski down alone (it happens more than you might think – in fact, each of my kids has fallen asleep on a chairlift at some point)
   
2. Using a harness with leashes to control them before they can stop and turn on their own.  Like mentioned above, in the early stages of skiing a ski harness is best used fo the handle.  Check out this article all about how to use a ski harness the correct way.
   
3. Don’t be over technical when teaching kids to ski.  Remember, they’re kids after all, and they probably don’t even know their right from their left, so introducing words like wedge and snowplow will just confuse them.  Personally, using the words pizza and french fry are about as technical as I’ve ever gotten.
   
4. Do not try to teach a child when you are not skilled yourself – it’s a recipe for disaster!  To ski backwards and use the technique we showed above you need to be at least an advanced intermediate skier.

Skiing with kids requires an incredible amount of patience.  If you’re unsure if you should teach your own kids to ski or go to ski school, I’d recommend talking to the ski school you’re interested in.  Personally, I think that a combination of ski school and skiing with parents is a good fit for most people.

Need help deciding if ski school is right for you? Read our article on Putting Your Kids in Ski School vs Teaching Them Yourself.