One thing our children wouldn’t have tried if it wasn’t for COVID lockdown
And it was so much fun!
We were looking forward to our third ice skating season. We moved to Copenhagen when the children were little. The first ice skating season went OK but during the second season their abilities developed enough they were thrilled every time they were on the ice. We had high hopes for this year. Our oldest set a goal for himself, for the first time, to spin, and asked an older girl to show him how she was spinning.
2020 was an odd year with ever changing COVID restrictions and cancelled vacations and activities. We assumed ice skating would be a safe activity because it was outdoors and we were looking forward to the 2020/21 ice skating season.
In a typical year, Copenhagen has ice skating rinks dotted around the city, they are free if you have your own skates. Winter 2020/21 ice skating season started shakily with only one rink opening up and unfortunately in December that rink closed because of over crowdedness and ahead of the two month lockdown we’ve been in ever since.
During lockdown we spend a lot of time at home but we also go alone into nature despite the cold to freezing temperatures. Like they say around here, no bad weather just bad clothing!
Things took a turn in late January when we saw temperatures drop sharply and stay below zero during the day and night. The large pond close to our house froze solid!
By now, lockdown is going on for so long that a frozen pond started to sound like a feasible place to ice skate! We daydreamed and talked about allowing the kids to ice skate there. From there it was a skip and a jump to check out the pond, send my husband to test the thickness of the ice, pack extra clothes in case someone fell in and surprisingly we were off to skate in the pond! To be fair the pond is not very deep. Falling in will mean getting your feet wet for an adult but a small child will have the water knee or thigh high which can be very cold, hence the extra clothes. We’ve been going every weekend and they’ve had the most fun!
The children love it, the whole thing is very nostalgic to my husband and I keep being marveled at how good the children have become at skating in the most improbable of circumstances. The temperatures have stayed low and more ponds and lakes have frozen around the city and more and more people are venturing on the water to walk and skate. It’s all a little crazy to me.
The pond is around the size of two football fields, and there’s a lot of shore to explore. Unlike skating in a rink where there are rules and you must skate in one direction and the kids are done after one hour, the pond is more engaging and each outing lasts close to two and a half hours.
The pond encourages exploration and inspires through positive outdoor experiences. The children create their rules and understandings, are more active, creative and imaginative. Each time we go it’s a different skating experience making each trip more exciting. On days there is snow on the surface on the pond, this slows them down but requires more balance because the surface is uneven. They fall less but are able to practice new skills, like spinning and they learn about risks and stimulate their senses. On days with more ice on the surface of the lake they are so fast and have to regulate accordingly and focus on balance. The surface is always uneven though!
Being outdoors offers opportunities for doing things in different ways and this is also true with ice skating in nature. With so many rinks around us, we might never have tried this if it wasn’t for COVID lockdown and it has truly been a wonderful family adventure for the four of us. One of the few truly wonderful things we can still do these days.
