ideas for skiing with children

Hi I am looking for advice on skiing with 2 children (one who will just be 6 and one who will be almost 3 when we go). The elder one has been with us skiing before but was too young to ski so stayed in kindergarden for a few days. At the moment she does not want to ski, but maybe when she sees mummy and daddy skiing who knows.
So any thoughts on what are good resorts with childcare, ? childrens ski lessons and something to do for the kids when we are not skiing?

a tall order I think

Wil

I went to banff when i was 3 and as far as i know i loved it. A day off the slopes is easy with loads to do, glacier walks, husky sledding etc etc etc all snow related activities also cinema bowling swimming with diving board! Ski resorts very child friendly crech

Wil, I think you have a single question to ask yourself - Do I want a ski holiday? or do I want to take my kids on a ski holiday? If you don't plan on using resort childcare you won't be able to take you attention away from the kids for a second. You may find this quite frustrating if you don't come to terms with it before you arrive in resort. Having said that, being with your kids on the mountain and having fun in the snow is great fun so long as you don't find yourself looking up the hill and wishing you were hitting the slopes yourself.

It's probably fair to say that your kids won't want to ski all day, so recognize the signs of boredom and change the activity quickly, possibly even leaving them wanting more, rather than overdose them.

Personally, I would use some of the resorts childcare facilities if only to give the kids a change of delivery style!

Good luck,

Jan

We went to Les gets last year with Esprit holidays - a family specialist Les Gets (France) is lovely its not too long a flight and a short transfer and they also have an ice skating rink in the village and a special part of the mountain that adults can only go on with kids - based on indians and cowboys real fun. My daughter was with ESF ski school through esprit and she came on leaps and bounds. They also do a snow club and creche - snow club runs in the afternoon after ski lessons and they do lots of fun things then in the evening they do cocoa club in chalet so you can eat your meal in peace. Esprit are a really good child friendly co to go with and you will share a chalet/hotel with other families who will also be holidaying with their kids and so are far more understanding. try contacting Esprit and have a look at where they go etc etc. Other kid friendly companies are Ski Famille& Ski beat. Try letting your older child having dry ski lessons before you go tht helps a lot as well - All in all have a great time.

Hi Wil,

I know it won't be a big help, but try to find a big resort, they propose lots of childcare services for the whole day or just morning and afternoon, with a bit of ski initiation and snow games.

Also most of "family friendly" resorts propose other activities for both kids and parents (ice skating, sledging, fireworks, shows...), mostly at xmas and half term.
Go on your favorite search engine and type "french family friendly ski resorts" and you'll find some good advices. Also you can check on any ski resort website what they propose.

Hope that helps !

My children tried skiing for the first time last year.
One six years old and the other three.

Took them for a few weeks dry slope in the UK to get them used to the equipment etc.Both enjoyed it and worth it.

Had private tuition organised in resort 1 hour a day.

6 six year old loved it and progressed well. One hour a day was enough and left loads of time to play in the snow.
3 year old was just too young,( Ski instructor was 6ft+,Wolfe was just too big) was happy to just to play.
Don't push them as it might put them off for good.

If your going on holiday to ski forget it. If your going on holiday to enjoy your children in the snow you will have a great time.
Taking the children again this year both looking forward to it.

I started skiing when i was 3 1/2 in risoul, france, was put into ski school for the week and it happens to be my fondest memory of skiing, albeit only 14 years ago!

I would get them skiing hard and fast from a young age, they will progress much more and love it as I do.