A common winter scene of a backyard hockey rink in Canada
A skating rink in your own backyard? Yes, please!
A skating rink is a great way to keep kids busy, stay active yourself, entertain guests, or even use as a conversation-starting background to your social media content. Here’s how to make this easy, enjoyable feature at home this month.
- Get a tarp: You’ll need to line the area you want to skate on with a heavy-duty tarp. You can get all kinds of sizes, so pick one that suits the area you’re looking to cover. Amazon is an easy destination but a hardware store might be a better bet so you can see and feel the quality before buying. If you think you want to make this rink year after year, consider investing in a quality tarp from heavydutytarps.ca.
- Frame the area: Set up a border for your rink using wood you have – scraps, 2x4s, logs, whatever! You can also buy long boards at that same hardware store you’re shopping for your tarp at if you don’t have something suitable at home already. Keep the frame secure with brackets or angles. Alternatively, you can use snow for a frame – just be sure it’s firmly packed and fully covered by the tarp. The frame should be a bit smaller than the tarp’s area, as you’ll want the tarp to come at least 10cms up the sides.
- Flood your rink: Use your backyard hose to flood the area until it’s at least 5 centimeters deep. Now the hard part – wait for it to fully freeze.
- Decorate your creation: Use strings of outdoor lights to illuminate your rink so it can be used well into the evening. Other fun additions are folding chairs with blankets, an old scrap of carpet where you can put skates on and off, a portable fire pit, a cooler to keep your beverages in, or even an outdoor patio lamp style heater (just not too close to the rink!).
I hope you give this a try – and don’t let my invite get lost in the mail if you do!