If you’re looking for a new hobby, roller skating is a great option! Keep reading to learn more about what roller skating essentials you need to get out on the rink.

What gear do you need to get started roller skating?

When you start a new hobby, it can be a lot of new information to consume to determine what you need. However, if you’re looking to get started roller skating we can suggest everything you need!

Here are the 7 things we suggest you have when you start skating:

Roller Skates

This seems a bit obvious, but of course you need a pair of reliable skates!

Multi-Use Skate Tool

The tool can help you keep everything properly tightened and ready for your next skating session.

Elbow Pads

If you’re learning how to skate, elbow pads are absolutely necessary!

Knee Pads

Much like elbow pads, knee pads will keep you as safe as possible while you learn how to roller skate.

Wrist Guards

Wrist guards aren’t as common as wearing elbow or knee pads, however they are certainly helpful in protecting you in case of falls.

Helmet

When learning any new hobby on wheels helmets are an absolute necessity. Even if you feel silly, it’s better to feel silly and keep your head protected than cause a major injury especially if you’re taking your skating outdoors.

Longer Socks

Since stroller skating boots are taller, it’s important to protect your feet and ankles with longer socks especially as you break the skates in. You may even find that you prefer thicker and longer socks with your roller skates.

That’s just the essentials! Don’t forget all the fun things you can add to your skates to make them more personalized such as fun colored skate laces, light up wheels, and more! However, the fun stuff can come later once you get adjusted to all your skate gear.

When it comes to starting a new hobby, it’s better to be safe than sorry and have all the gear you need to get going. Remember to just keep skating and you’ll be an expert in no time! We can’t wait to see you skating the days away with us at Rainbow Skateland!

Summer will be over soon, so don’t wait until it’s too late to start making 2022 your summer of skating! Check out our top 3 reasons why we think you should enjoy roller skating all summer long:

Beat The Heat

Does anyone actually want to be in the hot sun in the middle of summer? We doubt it! Being in the heat for too long can make you feel dehydrated, extra tired, and sick. So how can you get a good workout in the summer? We vote for an air conditioned roller skating rink!

Get Out Of The House

With it being so hot, your family may feel like their options are limited. If you’ve found your family spending their summer so far on the couch watching Netflix or playing video games, get to the rink. Roller skating allows your family to get in a good workout, make new friends, and create some new summer memories together!

Celebrate The Good Times

Your local roller skating rink gives you the opportunity to celebrate all summer long, and out of the blazing sun! It’s a great way to celebrate summer birthdays, team parties, or just get togethers over the summer!

Ready to get out on the rink this summer? We’d love to see you at Rainbow Skateland where it’s nice and cool! Check out our new summer hours to skate with us!

If you have been skating, you may know what pain it can cause. Throughout your time skating, falls, bruises, and blisters are par for the course, especially when you’re first starting out. Keep reading to learn how to avoid and fix common causes of pain from roller skating, because skating shouldn’t hurt.

Here are the 5 most common causes of pain from roller skating and how to avoid them:

Blisters

Blisters can unfortunately occur in new, poorly fitting, or rental skates. Plan ahead with tape or blister pads to keep them from forming. Band-aids don’t work well due to the continued friction causing them to fall off.

Sudden Foot Pain

Sudden foot pain, cramping, or irritation when you’ve never had it before can be a bit alarming. If your boots are already broken in, it could be a wrinkled, twisted, or ill-fitting sock. Always make sure your socks are fully pulled up without wrinkles before putting your foot in the boot.

Cramped Toes

Keep your toenails trimmed to keep your toes from jamming into the front of your boot.

Rink Rash

Roller skating in shorts can cause rink rash if you fall. Rink rash hurts, so it’s best to wear something on your legs to protect them in case of a fall.

Broken Wrists

Wrist guards will lessen injuries if you fall, but they do not prevent them. A better solution is to learn how to fall safely with no hands on the ground at all. We suggest landing on your butt to protect yourself from injuries.

Roller skating, like most sports, is not without potential risks. Yet, if you love to skate and keep practicing, you’ll be skating with few falls and better balance in no time. We can’t wait to see you safely skating the day away with us at Rainbow Skateland!

If you find yourself hitting the rink a lot at Rainbow Skateland, you most likely own your skates. If you haven’t already bought your own skates, there’s a lot of reasons to. This includes saving money from not paying the rental fees each time, picking a skate that’s perfect for you, and having the ability to customize them to your style!

How To Stand Out In Your Customized Skates

There are no rules when it comes to customizing skates! This gives you unlimited opportunities to make these skates truly customized to your personality and style. If you’re drawing a blank on where to even begin, you know we have you covered with some ideas!

Laces

Laces come in all sorts of colors! Time for you to find the perfect color(s) to lace up your skate. The laces don’t have to match, embrace your creative freedom and do different laces on each skate. Did you know there’s even light up skate laces? How fun would it be to light up the rink!

Wheels

Like laces, wheels also come in all sorts of colors and options. Additionally, wheels come in a variety of thickness and sizes. It’s important to choose the wheels that are good for how you like to skate. Even with narrowing down to the correct thickness and size, you still have tons of colors to choose from and different options like glow in the dark and light up wheels!

Toe Caps

This may be one you haven’t thought of just yet! Toe caps come with all different colors and designs. Changing your toe caps will undoubtedly make you stand out on the rink.

We hope these tips help get you started to fully customizing your roller skates! We can’t wait to see you hitting the rink in them at Rainbow Skateland!

Summer is here! Bring on the warm weather and loads of fun activities. If you haven’t already, you need to make your family’s 2022 summer bucket list. Lockport, New York offers tons of fun activities, so it’ll be a challenge to fit everything in during the few months of summer. To help you prioritize, we put together a list of 5 things we think should be on your family’s summer bucket list!

Explore The Unknown With A Lockport Cave And Underground Boat Ride

Take a walking tour and learn about caves and the Lockport cave! Your kids will love this fun experience.

Learn Something New At The Erie Canal Discovery Center

Spend a few hours learning something new at The Erie Canal Discovery Center. Perfect for your kids that love history and learning.

Spend A Day At The Blackman Homestead Farm

Spend a day on the farm, The Blackman Homestead Farm that is! Your kids will love the animals, activities, and fun treats they offer!

Go Back In Time At The Transit Drive-In

Show your kids what it was like to go to the movies way back in the day at Transit Drive-In. They’ll love this different experience of watching a movie whether it’s the first time, or the millionth!

Skate The Day Away With Us At Rainbow Skateland

Of course we couldn’t leave out skating with us at Rainbow Skateland! Your family can skate the day away together and have some fun.

While you’re at Rainbow Skateland, be sure to let us know you’re taking our summer bucket list suggestions!

Did you know that roller skating was invented even before America declared independence? Roller skating has such a unique history. We’ve laid out some of the highlights of the history of roller skating:

1743 – Picture going to a theater performance in London, England and an actor strides onto the stage on wheels. Although the inventor of the skates is unknown, this is the first recorded use of skates.

1760 – Several years later, John Joseph Merlin created inline skates. He wore them while attending a masquerade party!

1819 – The first to patent the roller skate design was Mr.Petitbled. While they look similar to the inline skates we use today, their maneuverability and comfortability were non-existent. In these skates, you could only skate in a straight line. Thankfully many decades were spent to improve the design.

1857 – Longdon opened the first public skating rinks. Skates had come a long way from their initial appearance on stage almost a 100 years earlier.

1863 – James Leonard Plimton, an American man, designed the quad skate. This skate is much like the skate we know today. More public skating rinks were opened as more people enjoyed this newfound hobby.

1876 – The toe stop was patented. This made it possible for skaters to stop on a dime.

1902 – The Chicago Coliseum opened its first skating rink. Over 7,000 people attended opening night!

1983 – President Ronald Reagan declared October to be National Roller Skating Month.

1993 – Active Brake Technology was invented to increase safety for skaters.

Since roller skating made its first debut, major strides have been made to make them safe, comfortable, and maneuverable. We love thinking back on the history and seeing skaters out on the rink with us at Rainbow Skateland!

Another year means another birthday party! How exciting to celebrate another year of your child’s life. We know planning the perfect party can be a bit stressful, so we put together a party planning perfection timeline just for you!

1 To 2 Months Before The Party

• Pick A Party Theme: Let your child’s imagination run wild and pick out the best party theme for their birthday!
• Budget It Out: Parties can be expensive if you don’t keep track of all the costs that add up.
• Choose The Date: Find a date that works best for your family and friends.
• Book A Venue: Scout out the best venue for the celebration.

3 To 4 Weeks Before The Party

• Send Out Invitations: Include all important info: when, where, dress code, and any extra details guests might need.
• Order Food And Drinks: Hungry guests are never good!
• Purchase The Decorations: It’s time to pick out some fun decor that goes with your theme.
• Brainstorm Games And Activities: Pick up any extra supplies you might need to play!

1 Week Before The Party

• Order The Birthday Cake: You can’t forget this step!
• Get A Final Head Count: Make sure you have the final number of guests confirmed to prepare for food, drinks, goody bags, etc.
• Prep The Food: Be sure any food you’re taking care of is prepped and ready.
• Finalize Plans: Now’s the time to make any party decisions you’ve been putting off.

The Day Before The Party

• Last Minute Shopping: Time for any last minute errands!
• Pick Up The Birthday Cake: You definitely can’t forget this step.

The Day Of The Party

• Arrive Ahead Of Time: Be early just in case, to ensure everything is situated.
• Decorate Your Party Area: Once you’re in your party area, it’s time to decorate it with all your decor.
• Last but not least, have fun!

We hope this guide helps you plan the perfect party! Make sure to check out our birthday parties at Rainbow Skateland. We’d love to have you celebrate such an important day with us!

The age-old question among roller skaters is which is better – skating or blading? They both have their pros and cons, and both cater to different needs so different skaters will have different opinions on the topic. In this blog, we’ll answer which is easier and better.

Is roller skating or rollerblading easier?

If you did either of these when you were young, it’s going to be easier to pick back up the one you did. If you’re looking for speed, it’s easier to go faster on rollerblades. The design and size of the wheel make it that way which is why mostly everyone chooses blading when they skate outdoors. 

On the other hand, inline skates let you gradually get faster with ease. They allow you more grace to set the pace you’d like to do with their design and wheel size. If you’re a true beginner, unfortunately you can easily fall over on either option.

So which is better – skating or blading?

If you’re looking to go a longer distance, rollerblades are better because you go faster. That’s not to say you couldn’t go a long distance on skates, but it would be harder to keep up. Roller skates might be easier for young children, because they feel more stable initially. Yet, blades can be easier to learn how to skate well. Tricks are typically done with inline skates, but can be done on blades.

So the truth is, it’s all personal preference! You just have to decide what works best for you and what you have the most fun doing. If you’re a new skater, we encourage you to try both to see what you like the best and what’s easiest for you! Everyone will be different, so it’s important to keep that in mind while skating or blading! We can’t wait to see which you choose to do with us at Rainbow Skateland!

Jam skating is a style of freestyle skating! It’s one part dance and one part gymnastics. It has been heavily influenced by the many other styles of skating that came before it.

Jam Skating History

Rhythm skating has been around since World War II. From there, distinctive styles quickly started emerging. In the late 1950s and 1960s, there was the rise of the bee-bop style. Then by the 1970s, “Soul Nights” were being held at skating rinks across the United States, and with those nights came the soul skating style. The 1970s also brought the rise of the roller disco.

All of these styles helped to influence jam skating. Jam skating is also known as shuffle skating, hexing, rexxing, toe-dancing, spot-skating, trucking, shadow skating, boogie bouncing, and crazy leg. It has roots in roller disco, but it is far from the traditional roller disco. The form of jam skating has been heavily influenced by breakdancing, as well as artistic skating and modern dance. Though it can be traced back to the 1970s, it gained extreme popularity in the early 1990s and is still very popular today. If you’ve spent any time at a roller skating rink, you’ve probably seen a few talented skaters jam skating along to the music!

Jam Skating in Pop Culture

Jam skating has been featured in films such as Roll Bounce (2005) and ATL (2006). It has also been featured in several music videos, including “1, 2 Step” by Ciara and Missy Elliott, “My Shoes” by Murphy Lee, “I Heart You” by Toni Braxton, and “Blow” by Beyoncé.

Whether you’re ready to jam skate or just cruise along, come skate with us at Rainbow Skateland in Lockport, New York!

Whether you’re an old pro or new to the skating scene, there’s always something new to learn! Step up your skating game – learn the lingo, master these tricks, and show them off on your next trip to Rainbow Skateland. 

Dipping

Dipping is when you bend your knees and put yourself in a squatting position while skating.

Scissors

Scissors is a move where you go across the rink on your two feet by pushing your feet outwards from a 90 degree angle, and then pulling them together again.

Rexing

Rexing is a type of backwards skating. It utilizes a sequence of step patterns, such as figure 8, duck walk, or grapevine.

Spread Eagle

Spread Eagle is a move where you skate forward with your knees bent, spread your legs, and rock back onto your heels while balancing on the back two wheels.

Spin

A spin is a skating move where you bend your knees while keeping your feet shoulder-width apart, and then rotate your arms to one side close to your body, pulling your closer skate backwards, and pulling your further skate forwards.

Salchow

To properly do a Salchow, start by skating backwards, complete a one-leg twist, do a quick jump, and land on your opposite foot.

Once you learn and nail these tricks, we have no doubt that you are sure to impress everyone at the rink. Stop by and see us at Rainbow Skateland to practice your newest roller skating moves! Feel free to contact us with any questions you have about roller skating and Rainbow Skateland!