How much off-ice do you routinely do with these beginner classes before getting on the ice the first time? At my rink it's not uncommon to take 10 or even 15 minutes getting kids comfortable moving around in skates off-ice before we ever take them on the ice. I've actually taken a class off the ice at the beginning of the 2nd and 3rd week as well when they need some review of basic posture, marching, dips, falling down, etc (I've done this with adults too, not just kid classes). Working off-ice can be a huge confidence booster for the really timid ones and it really does translate into a huge difference on the ice.
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always start SS classes off the ice - for the first three weeks at a minimum (we have 6-8 week sessions). We practice marching in place, marching forwards, dips, falling down and getting up. This also gives me a chance to see who needs skates retied or a different size before we get out on the slippery ice. Also, for a brand new skater in the 5 and under age, 30mins is a long time on ice. My director really supports the starting off ice and I will even send a struggling to get up skater off the ice with a helper to review before trying again.
I also do a ton of dips - we do dips moving, standing still, etc. We touch the sky, touch our toes, etc. I have them pretend they sit in an invisible chair and eat pizza, read a book, pet a cat, etc. My SS classes are all about having fun - the goal for SS1 is to get the skater comfortable on the ice, stand up, march forward. That is a success.
Some other things I do that help the little ones get comfortable moving on the ice pretend to be different animals - monkeys, giraffe, penguin, tigers, snakes, anything they can think of. I also use a marker to draw lines, pizza (to stand on with pizza feet for swizzles!), planets (skate in outer space!), anything I can think of! I also use stuffed animals (give each kid one, have them throw it, go pick it up. Repeat.) but not every class as they can be a distraction.
I've had good luck with this for knee bend - I tell the kids that their knees are like a car's engine. You can't drive a car without turning on the engine, right?? Well, you can't skate without bending your knees! A good demo for this is to do a swizzle with straight legs and then one with deep knee bend. Then have the kids "turn on their engines" before they try it. Bonus if you make engine noises.
Snowplow Sam classes can be very rewarding but also frustrating if you don't have a good coach/student ratio. My current SS1 classes are 16 skaters with 2 coaches (me and a junior coach) and 2 helpers (young teens working towards becoming coaches).