Reward stickers for young skaters?

[jjane45]

I guess the most appropriate ones are motivational in nature, what are coaches' other favorite stickers for young skaters?

[hopskipjump]

Not a coach, but my kid and her friends always love getting stickers from their coaches.  It really doesn't matter what kind!  She covers her coach note's notebook, her rink tote and sometimes just wears it on her forehead.  She and her friends are 10-13.   

I'd say cute animals are a fave, but rainbow colors, seasonal stickers - none are unappreciated!

[Rachelsk8s]

I pass out stickers to all of my students in LTS classes at the conclusion of each lesson.  My director buys a ton of them and then we get to choose which we think will be most appropriate for our group.  For my younger students, ages 3-5, usually animals or cartoon characters such as Disney seem to do the trick!!  But its a little harder for older kids, some of them like getting them and some don't We put them on their helmets which most of the kids really enjoy, they love to show off all of the stickers they've earned!

[jjane45]

Haha thank you very much! I am thinking about small gifts to coaches. Saw fancy Disney 3D stickers and not sure if those are OK   Is it the norm that skating school provides the stickers? Or do coaches sometimes have to buy those themselves?

I remember seeing a coach giving out stickers, and jokingly asked if I could get one too. She answered in all seriousness that I did not work for it, lol. That being said, I received 2 stickers from other occasions and still held onto them!

[hopskipjump]

Our coaches buy their own.  I would say to get the slightly more expensive ones - they are easier to peel off than the cheaper dollar store ones.  Sometimes the dollar store ones rip the paper off or the stickers rip as you pull them off or they aren't sticky.

[Skittl1321]

I always bought my own stickers.  Any kind I could find on clearance

The skating school didn't provide any of our props for classes, so I often made new things, begged for clean beanie babies from friends who have collections in their attic, or bought clearance toys (like pool rings, bowling pins, etc)

[Query]

Little boys will be teased if you give them hearts, flowers or pink, at least in the U.S.

It would be funny for a coach to give stickers to adult students, just once! As cutsie as possible, but gender appropriate. Or with pictures of famous skaters.

It would also be funny for a student to give stickers to a coach, also just once. Say, "World's best coach".  Maybe I will.

[Skittl1321]

Little boys will be teased if you give them hearts, flowers or pink, at least in the U.S.

Maybe it is because I teach tots (our basic levels don't ever get stickers)- but every boy has always loved both hearts and flowers and I've had some pick pink specifically.

They also really love trucks (as do the girls).  But they get what I have.  I don't believe in separating things as "girl things" and "boy things".  (I also don't let tots wear hockey skates until Snowplow 2, boy or girl.  They are just too difficult for them to learn in. Lots of parents think hockey skates = boy skates and figure skates = girl skates, and that is just plain wrong. Skates, except for sizing for adults are unisex.)

[blue111moon]

I saved the dinosaur stickers that came in the ads for Highlights magazine.  The kids all loved them.  Smiley stickers were popular too. 

[jjane45]

What about maximum sticker size?

Thank you everyone for your comments.

[Kim to the Max]

If there is a sale at Michaels or AC Moore and I happen to be there, I get whatever I can. I have a ton to larger Disney stickers that have gotten rave reviews by the sticker crowd. I also have smaller stickers. It just depends on what I can get on sale

[Skittl1321]

What about maximum sticker size?

Thank you everyone for your comments.

I never consider it- I just get what is on sale. The kids put them on their shirt or hand.

However, if you are doing helmet stickers, I wouldn't go larger than a nickel or maybe quarter.

[MimiG]

It would be funny for a coach to give stickers to adult students, just once! As cutsie as possible, but gender appropriate. Or with pictures of famous skaters.

My coach used to give me stickers when I skated as a twenty-something. (Not in groups - she just used stickers as a bribe with her kids and I joked once that *I* never got stickers for landing jumps, so it became a thing after that... I put them on my water bottle.)

[jjane45]

I have a sticker on my old cellphone cover and one on my right boot. LOL it really feels like I accomplished something!

[jjane45]

Hmmmm now I want to place custom orders for skating stickers like perfect spiral, nice toe point, excellent posture, best Axel etc.

Ideas please for younger LTS students? Maybe some cute graphic for each skill mastered?

[VAsk8r]

My coach used to give me stickers when I skated as a twenty-something. (Not in groups - she just used stickers as a bribe with her kids and I joked once that *I* never got stickers for landing jumps, so it became a thing after that... I put them on my water bottle.)

My coach gave me a smiley-face sticker (about the size of a quarter) under similar circumstances, and she was amused that I still had it on my jacket days later when all the kids had lost theirs.

I also got mini Reeses cups for something a couple of times, but she seems to have given up on that method.

The stickers cause some concern at our rink because some of the kids come back out for another session right after they get them, and they fall off onto the ice. I'm not really convinced they'd cause a fall, but I don't want to be the test case.

[jjane45]

Hmmmm now I want to place custom orders for skating stickers like perfect spiral, nice toe point, excellent posture, best Axel etc.

Ideas please for younger LTS students? Maybe some cute graphic for each skill mastered?

Urgent... I may have placed the wrong order... is it supposed to be permanent adhesive or removable?

[nicklaszlo]

permanent adhesive or removable?

You never know where kids might stick them, so removable.

[retired]

I was lucky enough to take a trip a few years ago to the legend of stickerdom, the SandyLion factory outlet.  It's in Toronto.      http://www.sandylionoutlet.com/  My favorite type are 9 stickers to a square, all the same so there are no arguments.  Like this:  http://www.trendsinternational.com/store/product/frogs-4/  I put them on the kids skates since we can't put them on helmets.   Yeah, obviously if I've decided I'm giving out frog stickers, there is jumping on the plan!

I made my own stickers using a Xyron:  http://www.xyron.com/enUS/Products/create-a-sticker/1_5__create-a-sticker/1_5__create-a-sticker.html  I made my own boo-boo stickers that skaters get after an ouchie.   I use the removable cartridge, the permanent is very permanent.

[FigureSpins]

I don't use them as rewards, more like party favors.  Anyone who makes it through to the end of class gets to choose their sticker.  The full-sheets of the same sticker makes that process much faster, otherwise you have to carry two or more sheets, so the early choosers don't disappoint the later skaters who wanted the snowlady with the purple hat.

The little "500 stickers!" reward books aren't a good buy - the stickers are too small to be enticing.  Anything less than an inch square is sort of dismissed.  The most favored stickers are shiny mylar ones that sparkle.  I think they're usually labeled "hologram stickers." 

Removable vs. permanent is a crapshoot.  I've had removable stickers that just wouldn't stick to hands, gloves or helmets in the cold rink.  They were everywhere - on the ice, on the floor, stuck to shoe bottoms and blades.  Tip: never stick them on the kid's chest - hands and helmets are okay, but on the body is a no-no.  (Although, one smart-aleck stuck it on his brother's butt during Mommy & Me.  He thought he was hilarious and fell down laughing, literally!)

I buy seasonal stickers half-price after the season or holiday is over and use them during the following year.  Christmas/Easter/Chanukah is dicey because you never know about religious issues.  I try to stick with winter themes like snowmen or ice critters.  Character stickers, like Disney or Pixar, are popular but if a kid doesn't know the character, they're not thrilled to get Thumper from Bambi, lol.

I've had a lot of kids turn down stickers.  Some kids just don't like them.

I like the helmet stickers.  We used to have the progress books for LTS with starskater stickers for each skill on the tests, but now we do the one-page sheets that's just printing.  It's good for the higher levels, but the younger skaters prefer the badges - simple way to say "you did it!"

I keep stickers in my bag to use during public sessions.  If a kid falls down or it's their first time skating, I ask the parents if I can give them a sticker.  Distracts from boo-boos, as Slusher suggests, and encourages kids who might be a little skittish about the cold, hard ice.

[jjane45]

I'll have to call the label supplier first thing in the morning and ask if the regular reward stickers are considered removable or permanent. If I remember correctly, the standard stickers normally stay permanently on notebooks right?

Thank you everyone for the tips, please keep them coming. One thing I'll definitely do is a duck with ice skates for shoot the duck!!!

[FigureSpins]

This was a cool search result:

http://www.scrappinstuff.com/store/winter-sports-ice-skating-c-57_91

[jjane45]

I'll have to call the label supplier first thing in the morning and ask if the regular reward stickers are considered removable or permanent. If I remember correctly, the standard stickers normally stay permanently on notebooks right?

Well, according to them permanent is correct. It's like the "Hello my name is..." labels, easily removable from clothing, sticks on paper.

I am having so much fun with the labels! Cute overload anyone? Maybe I should ask AgnesNitt for her extensive "cutest kitten" collection hehe.

[jjane45]

Instead of a quick gift, this now evolves into Christmas present scale...
Random samples below, the labels are quite small, just 1" diameter.

Tips tips tips?

[jjane45]

Oh there is already a "shoot the duck" lol