How to teach your toddler to snowboard in 7 steps

We have three kids. The oldest rides the whole mountain on their own, and the two youngest started snowboarding as toddlers and now ride the chairlift with us. It took years of trial and error to find an order that works: one that keeps them progressing and, just as important, keeps them wanting to come back. Here’s how to teach your toddler to snowboard, the way we did it.

1. 1.[Get her in the gear at home](#gear-at-home), long before the mountain.
2. 2.[Play on flat ground](#flat-ground). Fun is the only goal.
3. 3.[Walk her up a small hill](#small-hill) and let her glide down.
4. 4.[Ride down a bigger hill together](#ride-together), holding her harness backpack.
5. 5.[Take the first chairlift](#first-chairlift).
6. 6.[Teach S-turns, not falling leaf](#s-turns).
7. 7.[Let go of the leash](#leash-off) once she can turn and stop.

A toddler can start playing on a snowboard as soon as she’s walking steadily. Parents who ride often start real teaching between 2 and 3. Ski schools are more cautious: most kids’ snowboard lessons start at 3 or 4, and some resorts suggest waiting until 5, because standing sideways on a board is harder for small bodies than standing on skis.

Should she ski or snowboard first?

Either works. Skiing is usually easier for kids under 5, and that’s why ski schools push it. But if your family snowboards, starting her on a board means she learns what you can teach, and you can ride the same runs together from the start.

• Board: most toddlers start on an 80 cm board, then move to about 90 cm around age 3 to 5. Look for a soft, forgiving board made for little kids. Some come with holes for a tow reel at the nose.
• Boots: very small toddlers can start in their regular snow boots, if the bindings fit them. The smallest kids’ snowboard boots start around toddler size 7 or 8.
• Bindings: simple strap bindings she can’t easily kick out of, with buckles you can work while wearing gloves.
• Helmet and goggles: always. Make sure the goggles fit the helmet with no gap at the forehead.
• Warm layers: a base layer (not cotton), snow pants and jacket, and mittens rather than gloves. Little hands get cold first.

The toddler snowboard harness backpack

This is the one piece of gear we’d call essential. A kids’ snowboard harness looks like a small backpack, with a grab handle on top and a leash that clips to the back. We use the MDXONE. The handle lets you hold her up and pick her up after falls without wrecking your back. The leash gives her room to ride and fall, and lets you stop the falls that end the day.

When she outgrows the toddler setup, our snowboard buying guide covers sizing, boots and season leasing for kids who grow every year.

Boots, helmet, goggles, gloves, all of it. Days or weeks before the trip, let her wear everything around the house, play in it, and get used to how it feels for long stretches. Strap her into the board on the carpet and let her rock heel to toe.

Strap her in and pull her around on flat snow: the backyard, a park, the flat area by the lodge. We used to spin our daughter around like she was in the X Games.

The only goal here is fun. She’s on a snowboard, in her gear, and laughing.

Find a gentle slope, pull her up a few feet, and walk alongside as she glides down. She’s learning how it feels to be locked into a board, and finding her balance with both feet planted. That glide builds balance and confidence.

Go a little higher each time. Before long she’ll ride down from 15 feet or so, standing tall without falling. This is a good time to start using the harness backpack, so you can hold her up from above instead of bending over her all day.

Walk up a slightly bigger hill and ride down together. Hold the backpack handle in one hand and steady her side with the other. It feels clumsy at first, and it gets more natural every run.

Getting on

1. 1.Strap both of her feet in.
2. 2.Pull her up right next to you in the loading spot.
3. 3.When you feel the chair touch the back of your leg, sit down, pick her up by the backpack handle and pull her all the way back into the seat.
4. 4.Lower the bar.

Then make the ride up exciting. Point out the tiny people below and the snow on the trees.

Getting off

As soon as your board touches the ramp, stand up and ride off with her. It’ll be messy at first. Tell the lift attendant before you get on, and they’ll slow the chair down for you.

From the top, go back to step 4 and glide her down the mountain.

Most lessons, and most guides to teaching kids to snowboard, start with the “falling leaf”: sliding side to side down the hill on the heel edge, then the toe edge. We skip it. We don’t ride down the mountain on our heels, so we don’t teach our kids to either. Falling leaf can become a habit that’s hard to break.

Instead, hold the backpack and work on wide S-turns from the start, exaggerating the shift from heels to toes and back. You’re steering for her at first. Over time she does more of the work.

Kids learn by falling, so letting her fall is part of the process. The leash lets her fall while saving her from the falls that end a day: face plants, scorpions (where her board flips up over her back), or falling backward and hitting her head.

Signs she’s ready to ride without the leash

• She links S-turns in both directions on her own.
• She stops when you ask her to, every time.
• You’ve done whole runs without needing to pull the leash.

Unclip it and give her more room. You’ll probably go back and forth between leash on and leash off for a while. Then one day the leash stays home, and you have a riding buddy right behind you. There’s no better feeling.

• Keep sessions short. A few runs, or an hour, is plenty at first. Stop while she’s still having fun, not after the meltdown.
• Check hands and cheeks often. Cold is the fastest way to end a day. Pack hand warmers and a spare pair of mittens.
• Bring snacks. A treat at the bottom of the hill buys you another run.
• Take breaks in the lodge. Hot cocoa counts as part of the day.
• Celebrate the small wins: the first glide, the first turn, the first chairlift ride.