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Kids Skateboards Buyers Guide

Skateboards for Young New Skaters

By , About.com Guide

Beginners Skateboards Buyers Guide for Kids and Children - buying a new skateboard for your child for Christmas or a birthday? It can be tough to know exactly what to buy. This article will walk you through some good options.

Beginners Skateboarders Buyers Guide - Some Good Suggestions

A "Complete" skateboard is one that comes fully built. A good quality complete skateboard for an adult will usually cost around $120, so most people don't want to spend that much on a six year old's new hobby!

What size of skateboard? - This is a good question, but at this stage (as a kid) the size of the skateboard isn't so important. Getting one on the smaller side is a good idea, but don't stress too much about it.

These beginner skateboards for kids run from around $50 to $100. That might still seem like a lot compared to the $20 Batman skateboard at the store, but please believe me - those cheaper boards are poorly made, dangerous, and no fun. You are far better off buying a better board and some Batman stickers!

SkateXS Complete Skateboards

SkateXSSkateXS
SkateXS makes high grade skateboards for kids ages 5-10. While some of the other brands listed below make smaller, kid sized boards, SkateXS does the same but with the highest pro grade parts that I've seen on a board sized for kids. When you get a SkateXS complete skateboard, you get real, high quality trucks, wheels, and bearings.

The SkateXS deck is made from bamboo, which isn't the usual (most skateboard decks are made from maple). This makes the decks lighter and gives them more pop. Bamboo is the perfect choice for younger, lighter skaters.

"SkateXS was created by real parents of real skaters. Even though we were skaters ourselves, we had a difficult time finding high quality properly sized skateboards and skateboard parts for our kids. We've built SkateXS to help others." Visit the SkateXS website to order.

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World Industries Complete Skateboards

Beginners Skateboarders Buyers GuideWorld Industries
World Industries used to be a hardcore brand, with rough and raucous graphics, but then they started making kid's boards, too! It's odd, but the World Industries cute little characters Flameboy and Wet Willy just caught on with the younger skaters. But, they are good and trustworthy completes, but more conservative parents may not approve of the overall imagery of World Industries. (see the World Industries website) World skateboards are available at a lot of sporting goods stores, and you can get them for $50 to $60 online at places like Amazon.com.
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Termite Complete Skateboards

Beginners Skateboarders Buyers GuideTermite
Termite also makes complete skateboards for kids. Termite enjoys a strong name in the skateboard community, focused very strongly on making skateboards for children and beginners, along with pads and other gear for kids. Termite's graphics feature cartoon bugs - take a look and see what you think. (see Termite website).

A Termite complete can run up to $100 off of their website, but you can get them much much cheaper on Amazon.com. They also sell "Value Packs", which include a Complete skateboards, pads, helmets are more.

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Positiv Complete Skateboards

Beginners Skateboarders Buyers GuidePositiv
Positiv Skateboards is headed up by Andy Macdonald. The team consists of Andy, Sandro Dias, Rodney Jones and Carlos de Andrade. Their mission is to make high quality skateboards available to skaters of all levels, especially skaters who are looking for a great value on their first skateboard. Positiv skateboards are designed and manufactured by Skate One, a company with over 30 years experience in building top quality skateboards. A compelte Positiv skateboard will run around $75.
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WARNING: CHEAP means DANGEROUS!

The above suggestions are great, and there are other good cheap skateboards on the market, but you need to be careful.

The first thing you need to know is to NOT buy a cheap children's skateboard from the toy store or nearest superstore. I'm referring to skateboards with Spiderman or Spongebob on the bottom, made by companies that have mass produced their skateboards with little concern for the quality of their product.

This is important to remember, because giving your child or kid a poor quality skateboard will give them a bad skateboarding experience. Skateboards are, by nature, dangerous. You don't want to skimp on the skateboard, and get something that will make skateboarding even more dangerous. Read Are Cheap Skateboards OK to Buy?

An Alternative: Build a Skateboard from Scratch

Photo: Jamie O'Clock
There is one other option - you could build a skateboard for your kid! This is a lot of work, and won't be cheaper, but it's fun to do!

For step by step help in picking out the right parts, read the Skateboard Buyers Guide. This guide is pretty in-depth, and might be overwhelming to some parents. Proceed with caution, and let me know if you have any questions!

Remember the Helmet and Shoes!

Photo: Steve Cave
Remember to also pick up a helmet, and look into skateboarding shoes if your child doesn't already have them. Some of the above companies make helmets and shoes, and can give you a great deal. The helmet doesn't have to be too fancy, it just needs to be on your kid's head! For the shoes, most tennis shoes will work, but skateboarding shoes are made with flatter soles and other features, to help with skateboarding.

Then, you should be all set! Except for cool skate stickers to slap all over the board and helmet, building ramps for your skater, taking him or her to the skatepark, then to competitions, and eventually to compete in the X-Games!

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