One of the hardest things for people to do is pick out a pair of roller skates for children. Your child may want to play some outdoor activities like Rollerblade. Therefore, in this article, PUCKDRAWN HOCKEY will talk today just a little bit about the variety of skates that are available and how to go about picking the best skate for your children.
The couple of questions very frequently are:
What size should I get for my child?
When choosing the best roller skate for children, one of the things that I know everybody wants to do is get a skate that’s big enough that’s going to last for your child. That’s fine, but I would tell you not to buy anything that’s more than one size bigger than what your child’s shoe size is a couple of things you need to think about.
You would think to put two pairs of socks on to take up space is a good thing. However, that is not one of the things that you should do when picking a pair of skates. When you put two pairs of socks on, you’re creating more moisture inside your child’s foot, which in turn is going to help increase the possibility of getting blisters. One thick pair of socks should be sufficient.
The other thing that you’d want to do is make sure that you tie your child’s skate as snug to their foot as possible. This will keep the skate from rubbing back and forth inside on your child’s foot. That’s what creates the blisters. Therefore, it’s the rubbing and the moisture combined when you do that.
So if you use two pairs of socks that creates the moisture and leave the skate tied loose that creates the friction and that’s when you get the blisters and then obviously the child’s not going to want to skate in those skates if they’re hurting on their foot. So you can get them one pair of socks if you want a skate that has a bigger size.
How to measure the foot size?
When you measure someone’s foot, you can follow those steps below:
- Find a flat surface, preferably a tabletop.
- Take an eight and a half sheet of paper or bigger and get it on the tabletop.
- Take this inner sole and put the foot you want to get it right up against the edge of the paper.
- Take a pen, and we’re going to mark right across the front of the big toe and then out on both sides of the widest part of your foot.
That’s going to give you some measurements. You’re going to take that piece of paper measure from the back all the way out to the way you drew that toe. This is going to give us a measurement in millimeters.
With that measurement in millimeters, you will be able to determine what exact size that your child is going to need for a pair of skates or any skates for that matter. That is one of the best ways to get an accurate measurement when choosing a particular size for a pair of skates.
Price: which price point should I consider when choosing a pair of roller skates for children?
There is a large variety of skates and brands, and all these brands have many skates in a lot of different price points. The price point is really going to be one of those items that tell you what type of skate that you’re going to get. You can consider whether you’re going to get a toy type of skate or if you’re going to get a more of an athletic quality brand skate that typically will last you a little bit longer.
This fun roll skate, for instance, for the little tiny guy: it is more probably in the lines of a toy type skate. It is adjustable in several different sizes. That’s a lower price point skate type. You can find it forty-five to fifty dollars, maybe even less. But that type of skate is more for someone who’s just going to get started on skates, probably be out of that skate in less than a year.
It’s not going to get them to be able to race around the skating for when you step up into more of a leather type of boot with a little bit better quality. That price point is going to be closer to 100 to 150 dollars to get boots that are probably going to last a little bit longer and be more durable and take a little bit more of a beating.
Some of the kid’s recreational skates such as the wave skate that typical boots are not going to be made as high in quality. That’s it’s going to run you in the neighborhood sixty-five to seventy-five dollars. That’s a pretty decent price point to get started with for young people.
The adjustable inline skate that’s going to give you multiple sizes, and typically their liners are going to hold up pretty well. That’s another one that’s going to be about the 65 $70 range. With something like this, you’re getting basically three or four skates out of it because of the adjustments and sizes.
That in itself is going to help you get dressed up in a little bit of the flash type stuff that price point is going to be closer to the $70 range. But the boot itself is made to last. It’s got a perfect liner in it, so you’re going to get some good quality.
The price point is always going to help you determine just what type of skate you’re getting. I will tell you just like if you buy anything, you get what you pay for, so if you’re going to spend $30 you’re probably going to get a skate to meet life for three-four months, and you’ll be back by another skate if you spend 75 to $100.
That skates are probably going to last a good year or two and even longer and you probably will be able to resell it to somebody and get a little bit of that money back.
The one thing I would tell you is as adults, you will not outgrow your skate, spend a little bit extra money and get a right quality skate that’s going to last you. I’ve had adults lap skate for the last 15-20 years because the boots and wheels were made of good quality. Obviously, the wheels will probably have to be replaced, but the boot itself can last quite a long time if you spend a little bit extra money.
But with kids skates, I would tell you 65 $70 is probably going to get you a good quality skate that’s going to last that child for a little bit longer and take a little bit of abuse that they’re going to give it.
Other considerations when choosing roller skates for children
A couple of things that you also want to think about is the age of the child if you’re going to pick a skate out for maybe a 10 to a 14-year-old child, they might like something that’s a little bit fancier, a little bit more dressed up that’s more stylish if you will.
One of the skates that we carry is this Jackson 5 skate. I know this one doesn’t have any wheels on it, but you can put just about any wheel combination on this particular skate and dress it up—the way any young teen might want to have. You can put some pink wheels on it and some green outdoor wheels if they’re going to skate outside.
If you’re going to have a child that’s going to skate primarily outside, one of the most important things is to make sure you get the correct wheels for doing that. Wheels come rated explicitly for outdoor indoor. The softer the wheel, the better just get outside, which is very important.
If you’re skating on an outdoor surface, you want something that’s going to absorb a lot of the bumps and the little pebbles that are out there.
Harder wheels will not absorb that if you hit one of those cracks or one of those pebbles. Typically, that hard wheel is going to come to a stop, and the skaters are going to keep going, and it’s not a pretty sight after that.
So getting a soft wheel to skate outside on is one of the most important things that you can do. one of our best-selling outdoor wheels, this poison wheel that can go on just about any other skate. 
This Jackson 5 roller skate we can put together for you and a great price you can dress it up with colored laces. Any of those types of things that are making that skate particularly suitable for some of those young adults.
Conclusion
So this is our advice to buy roller skates for children. Hopefully, with this information, you can make the right purchasing decisions a lot easier.
