Skateboards are good for core stability

Skateboarding is something I have never been able to do, but those youngsters who master it have amazingly strong core muscles and quick reflexes. I watch my nieces and nephews who just glide around without a care in the world and wish I could do that too.

What skateboarding is good for:

• Core stability
• Balance
• Stimulation of the vestibular sense (in the inner ear)
• Eye foot co-ordination
• Awareness of both left and right sides of the body
• Awareness of top and bottom half of the body
• Spatial planning
• Problem solving
• Quick reflexes
• Fun
• Keeping kids off screens

Dangers of skateboarding

Of course, if your child falls off a skateboard, which is invariably being used on a hard surface, they will hurt themselves. Grazes are guaranteed and in extreme cases there can be broken arms, legs and even back, neck or head injuries.

This is why you need to ensure that your children have the necessary safety gear from arm and knee pads to helmets. And maybe a little bit of coaching from someone who knows what they are doing to start off with.

There are, however, children who take so naturally to the rigors and challenges of skateboarding, just as there are children who are naturals at skating, rollerblading and surfing. They just get up and look stylish from the very beginning.

The Maui range of skateboards

The colourful range of high quality Maui skateboards is available from Toy Kingdom stores around the country as well as their online store. They are bright with classic graphics and are known as ‘free-riding gems’.