I'm often asked "How do I teach my kids to kayak?  What age should they start kayaking?  How do I teach them to have fun and to not be afraid?  How do I keep them interested?  Where do I find other parents and families to paddle with??"  Kayaking 4 Kids will answer all of these questions, and many more.  Kayaking is something the whole family can do together.  When introduced correctly, your kids will look forward to paddling with enthusiasm and excitement!

We'll watch and discuss the recently released instructional video "Paddle Monsters."  This video includes two sections;

So your troop has taken the Paddle, Pole & Roll clinic and wants to take their skills (and their boats) to the river!  Now what??  Come with us as we paddle through the Rio Grande Bosque.  The Rio Grande is one of Albuquerque's most overlooked recreational playgrounds!  Surrounded by Native American Pueblo lands and CABQ Open Space properties, they'll feel like they're 100's of miles from a major metropolitan city.  No buildings, no traffic, no noise, no people.  Just huge cottonwood trees and incredible views of the Sandia Mountains.

For your girls' first time on the river, they'll feel the gentle current pushing their boat downstream. They'll get a chance to practice all the flatwater strokes and learn new skills like reading the river, recognizing and avoiding hazards and trip-planning logistics.

The Introduction to Kayaking for Kids (13 - 16) class is the same content that we teach our adults in the Level 1 Introduction to Kayaking class, but at a reduced rate.  The course is broken into thirds: 1/3 on rescues, 1/3 on concepts & continuity of motion and 1/3 on stroke mechanics.  As the course progresses, we expect that kids will demonstrate the correct stroke mechanics in the pool, can perform smooth and controlled wet-exits, simple rescues, assist with rescues that are within their physical abilities, and have a solid foundation of basic strokes needed to make their boat glide across the water with each stroke.  It is this refinement of strokes that makes whitewater, recreational or touring easy.

This 2.5 hour clinic begins where Paddle Safety class leaves off.  We still play fun games to build confidence, balance and coordination, but we have higher expectations that older children will perform the basic strokes more accurately, stay focused longer, and with greater mental and physical stamina.  We spend more time working on the fundamental strokes and rescues we expect from our adult classes, but balanced with an even mix of fun and games, and in simplified steps that are easy to learn.  Our goal with this class is to prepare kids with the basic skills for flatwater, however, it may be necessary to repeat the class a time or two to develop the skills for moving water, which is less forgiving.

The Paddle Safety class is a 1.5 hour program that emphasizes fun and safety....but really, it's all about fun and games!  We show kids that "flipping over" is part of the fun, and so is "climbing" back in! We teach them that a kayak is a fun toy, much like a beach ball, inner-tube or jungle-gym!  We'll play games like "Tow the Swimmer," Marco-Polo, Sponge Bob Tag (think "hot potato"), and Duct Tape Tag.  Along the way, your kids will become familiar with the kayak, how stable it is, how maneuverable it is, and learn that flipping over can happen accidentally, but can be a lot of fun if they practice the right technique.  At the end of the class, most kids agree - flipping over is more fun than the games we play!