Little Kids Level 1

This class is for kids ages 8 to 10 years old to learn the basics of kayaking! We will cover topics such as river safety, proper paddling technique, river hydrology and navigating small rapids.

Day 1 will begin with a meet and greet with the kids, parents and instructors. We will use this meet and greet to get to know the kids. After this, we will give out gear and learn how to take care of it. Then we can get in our on site pool to learn an important kayaking skill the wet exit. This skill is essential to master before getting on the river. After this, we can head to the lake to learn about forward strokes, draw strokes, bracing strokes and sweep strokes.

After the first few days of learning the basics we can spend time on the Animas! We will start with a flatter section of the river where we can get more comfortable in our boats, and we can start introducing some river maneuvers. As the week progresses, we will start running some small rapids, and learning how to control our kayaks in whitewater. By the end of the week, we will have covered all of the basics of kayaking, and kids will have solid fundamentals to build on. This class will include all gear, transportation and instruction.

• Prerequisites: None
• Age: 8 to 10
• Included: Gear, transportation and instructors
• Time: 8- 12 or 1- 5
• Duration: 5 days