Anonymous wrote:If you are comfortable on the ice, go for it. But if you have rarely skated and are out of control yourself, do not take your 3 year old. You will have to support her and hold her up. Not every ice rink offers penguins, most don't in my experience.

Morning sessions before 11am are less crowded in general..

+1. It’s really hard on your back. I brought my 2 year old last year to a very crowded rink and it was a lot. I grew up skating and playing hockey, but felt it was a lot on my back. I can’t imagine how difficult it would have been if I had not been able to skate well myself.

The outdoor rinks tend to have rough ice and terrible dull skates. That said, the rink in downtown Silver Spring has penguins. It’s small though and can get crowded, with lots of older kids being silly. I guess if you go during a school day it’s probably less chaotic. You might want to try the Wheaton indoor ice rink instead. It’s bigger and there’s more space to take your kid to the side and go slow.

Anonymous wrote:OP, just a friendly suggestion to lower expectations for your own sake.

My kid expressed interest in skating at 3, so we took her to the National Gallery rink and she was mostly a crying mess. (Totally good with it years later, fwiw.)

Just don’t want you to be disappointed. Hope you have better luck!

I heartily endorse lower expectations, but skating at the national gallery at age 4 was how DD found her passion and is still skating at age 13.

But she actually was mostly a crying mess, and she peed her pants on the ice. So yeah, expect the worst.

OP, just a friendly suggestion to lower expectations for your own sake.

My kid expressed interest in skating at 3, so we took her to the National Gallery rink and she was mostly a crying mess. (Totally good with it years later, fwiw.)

Just don’t want you to be disappointed. Hope you have better luck!

Anonymous wrote:We personally really like Pentagon City. It feels less busy.

This gets very crowded sometimes but it's the only one I've been to that hasn't been crowded every time I go. If you go earlier in the morning on a weekend or go on a weekday, it's usually pretty good.

Anonymous wrote:If you are comfortable on the ice, go for it. But if you have rarely skated and are out of control yourself, do not take your 3 year old. You will have to support her and hold her up. Not every ice rink offers penguins, most don't in my experience.

Morning sessions before 11am are less crowded in general..

Hence why op is researching in advance to find a rink that does!

3 is a great age! If you’re reasonably comfortable on the ice yourself, a stable adult is way better than the penguins for learning. If not, penguins are okay I think. Just make sure you laces their skates tight enough — I spent all my little kid (and sometimes adult) teaching years relacing skates so that actually support the ankle.

We personally really like Pentagon City. It feels less busy.

Wharf also has kid support devices, as does the one by Navy Yard

Smithsonian does not

If you are comfortable on the ice, go for it. But if you have rarely skated and are out of control yourself, do not take your 3 year old. You will have to support her and hold her up. Not every ice rink offers penguins, most don't in my experience.

Morning sessions before 11am are less crowded in general..

I would love to take my three year old ice skating this winter. Any suggestions on best outdoor rink for her to try? I know Georgetown had penguins you can rent. Do any others? Any that are likely to be less crowded?