Kids lessons & programmes

Snowplay- This is a relaxed way for your child to get to know Skiwiland, the mountain and ski culture. 

If your child is over 4 yo and has skied before, is energetic, confident progression focused and respond wells to instructional teaching you can book a child’s group lesson. 

If you would like to allow your child time to develop a sense of the mountain environment, to take a relaxed approach and lay the foundation for a lifetime of enthusiastic participation in snowsports then we recommend starting out with the My first ski school snowplay programme. 

If you are booked for the group ski, we recommend arriving between 9 and 9:15 to ensure sufficient time for completing enrolment and handover information.  Time to fit boots and skis and for your child to practice moving in new equipment before heading out onto snow for the morning.  If you arrive after 9:45 you child may need to do snowplay for the morning to avoid rushing and overwhelming them. 

If you are booked for snowplay, we recommend arriving between 9 and 10am, although we can accept your child at any time.  However, please avoid lunch time drop-offs as there is often no teacher available for handover. 

We ask you to be thoughtful about visits, they can unsettle children, when they see you, they think you have come to collect them.  When they are skiing it can interrupt their focus and often upset them. 

Visiting over lunchtime, while the children are eating can be disruptive to safe supervision of eating. 

We understand you know your child best and can take this information into consideration when considering visiting your child. 

To protect the wellbeing of all the children all our teaching spaces are for teachers and enrolled children only.  You can watch your child over the fence while they are in the yard and from the reception area in the classroom.  Another great place to spy on the ski lesson is from the fence on the lower M1. 

The best time to watch your child is just before afternoon snack time, around 2:30pm.  This will allow your child to develop a sense of belonging, develop some understanding of what skiing is and then if they really want you, most of the lesson has already taken place. 

Waterproof clothing and suitable footwear.   

Any comfort items that will support your child to enjoy their day and transition from your care to ours.  

Food and water are provided, however, if your child has severe allergies or special dietary requirements you may like to bring their own food.  We do recommend contacting the teaching team prior to your visit if you have any special requirements. 

Spare nappies if your child is using them. 

Spare set of clothes, snow can be quite wet. 

Appropriate Socks for skiing.  Knee length socks are preferable. 

Your child only needs to wear one set of leggings, trackies or tights under their ski suit.  

Yes, we have space for sleep and rest.  Bringing any items your child normally uses to settle for a rest will help them relax in our new space.  

For your children’s early experiences of ski school, we recommend Skiwiland My first ski school Group Ski.  The physical environment and play based learning culture facilitates enthusiastic participation in snowsports.

The security of the indoor classroom attached to the fully fenced exclusive yard creates a sense of safety for children to explore from.

The centre is well resourced for encouraging children to challenge their balance and have fun on skis.  The experienced teachers are sensitive to when your child is ready to start learning the lateral and rotational movements that allows them to control their speed using a wedge. 

Snowplay is the best product for 2-year-olds.  They do not usually have the physical strength to keep up with the skiing group and struggle with the group lesson component.  In snowplay they are still learning the routines of a ski school, how to ride a magic carpet and the properties of snow.  Sledding is fun. 

Sorry, No the age of children is defined by our license from the Ministry of Education.  On arrival you will be asked to sign a legal document that includes your child’s birth date. We recommend finding a babysitting solution in town. 

There are similarities between our centre and your child’s usual experience of daycare for example the group learning experience, resources (books and toys) sleeping in a classroom.  However, the relationships with people, places and things will be very different, there are new children, they won’t have their usual friends, the mountain is a very new environment and they need to build trusting relationships with new teachers. 

Yes, however we recommend they do a day of snowplay first.

3-year-olds rarely have the muscle strength to be able to rotate their legs and stop themselves in wedge.  At 3 yo they enjoy a straight run and having their balance over two skis challenged.  Doing a day of snowplay prior group ski to make their first ski experience more relaxed and less stressful will not hold up their progress. 

If your 4 year old is confident and you arrive between 9 and 9:15 they should be able to enjoy a successful first day skiing. If your child takes longer to settle and adapt to new experiences, then a day's Snowplay may be more likely to encourage lifelong enthusiastic participation in snowsports.