What Size Skateboard for a Kid?
The single most common mistake parents make is buying a board a size too big so the child can grow into it. It backfires every time. A board that is too wide is heavier, slower to turn and harder to balance on, so the child struggles, decides they are bad at it, and the board ends up in the shed.
Buy the size that fits now. Decks are the cheapest part to replace and everything else carries over.
The short version
- Size by height and shoe size, not age. Kids of the same age vary enormously.
- Under 1.05m: 6.5in to 6.75in wide.
- 1.05m to 1.3m: 6.75in to 7.0in.
- 1.3m to 1.5m: 7.0in to 7.375in.
- Over 1.5m: standard adult sizing, 7.5in and up.
- Buy a complete, not parts. Assembled, matched and ready to ride.
- Budget $90 to $140 for a youth complete from a real skate brand.
- Helmet and wrist guards from day one. Wrists are the most common beginner injury.
What we cover
Size chart · What age to start · Why not to size up · What to spend · Safety gear · When to move up · FAQ
What size skateboard does a kid need?
Deck width is what matters. Length barely changes across kids boards, and width is what determines whether they can control it.
| Height | Rough age | Deck width | What it suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 1.05m | 3 to 5 | 6.5in to 6.75in | Micro. Learning to stand, push and roll |
| 1.05m to 1.3m | 6 to 8 | 6.75in to 7.0in | Mini. Confident pushing, first tricks |
| 1.3m to 1.5m | 9 to 12 | 7.0in to 7.375in | Mid. Skateparks, ollies, real progression |
| Over 1.5m | 13 and up | 7.5in and up | Full size. Use adult sizing from here |
Cross-check against shoe size. If their shoes hang more than a centimetre or so over each edge, the board is too narrow. If their feet sit well inside the edges with room to spare, it is too wide. Height gets you close, feet confirm it.
Ages in that table are a guide only. A tall eight year old and a small eleven year old often land on the same width.
What age can a kid start skateboarding?
Most kids are ready around five or six. What actually matters is whether they can balance confidently on their own and follow a simple safety instruction, not the number.
Three and four year olds can manage it with constant hands-on supervision, and plenty do. Equally, there is no disadvantage to starting at ten. Skateboarding is not a sport where an early start compounds.
The thing that predicts whether they stick with it is not age. It is whether the first few weeks are fun, which mostly comes down to a board that fits and a helmet that means falling is not a disaster.
Why buying big to grow into does not work
It is a reasonable instinct and it is wrong for three reasons.
Weight. A wider deck with bigger trucks is meaningfully heavier. A small child pushing a board that is too heavy tires quickly and cannot lift it to do anything.
Turning. Wider trucks turn more slowly. A child who cannot steer away from an obstacle loses confidence fast.
Foot position. On a too-wide deck their feet cannot reach the edges properly, so they never learn where to stand. That habit takes a long time to unlearn.
A deck is $90 to $180 to replace and takes fifteen minutes. Trucks, wheels, bearings and hardware all move across to the new one. Sizing correctly now costs you one deck later, and gets a child who actually enjoys it.
What should you spend on a kids skateboard?
A youth complete from a real skate brand runs $90 to $140. That buys a proper maple deck, trucks that hold their shape under a child, and wheels that roll over a pebble instead of stopping on it.
Below about $80 you are into department store territory, and that is not a cheaper skateboard, it is a different product. Pressed multi-ply that delaminates when it gets wet, cast trucks that bend, wheels with no rebound. It is measurably harder to learn on, and it is the most common reason a kid decides skateboarding is not for them within a fortnight.
Buy a complete rather than building one. Everything is matched, assembled and adjusted, and it works out considerably cheaper than buying parts separately.
What safety gear does a kid actually need?
Helmet. Not optional, not negotiable, and the one piece of gear worth spending properly on. Get it fitted rather than guessed.
Wrist guards. Wrists are the most commonly injured part in beginner skateboarding, because the instinct when falling is to put your hands out. Wrist guards are cheap and they work.
Knee and elbow pads. Most valuable in the first few months and any time they are at a skatepark. Pad packs bundle knees, elbows and wrists together and are the cheapest way to cover all three.
Size charts: helmets · wrist guards · knee pads · elbow pads
Come into Richmond and we will fit the helmet properly. It takes five minutes and a badly fitted helmet does considerably less than people assume.
When should they move up a size?
Two signals. Their feet hang noticeably over the edges, or the board starts feeling twitchy and hard to hold steady because it is now small relative to them.
Most kids get one to two years out of a size. When the time comes you usually only need a new deck. The trucks, wheels, bearings and hardware move straight across, so an upgrade is $90 to $180 rather than the price of a whole new setup.
The exception is going from a micro board to a mid size, where the trucks are genuinely too narrow and want replacing at the same time.
Kids skateboard FAQ
What size skateboard does a kid need?
Size by height and shoe size, not age. Under 1.05m go 6.5in to 6.75in wide. From 1.05m to 1.3m go 6.75in to 7.0in. From 1.3m to 1.5m go 7.0in to 7.375in. Over 1.5m, use standard adult sizing from 7.5in up.
What age can a child start skateboarding?
Most kids can start around five or six, once they can balance confidently and follow basic safety instructions. Some three and four year olds manage it with constant supervision. There is no rush, and starting later makes no difference to how good they get.
Should you buy a bigger skateboard for a kid to grow into?
No. This is the most common mistake parents make. A board that is too wide is heavy, hard to turn and hard to control, so the child struggles, stops enjoying it and gives up. Buy the size that fits now and replace the deck later.
How much should a kids skateboard cost?
A youth complete from a real skate brand costs $90 to $140 in Australia. That gets a proper maple deck with trucks and wheels that work. Boards under about $80 from department stores are a different product and are genuinely harder to learn on.
What safety gear does a kid need for skateboarding?
A helmet is non-negotiable, and wrist guards prevent the most common beginner injury. Knee and elbow pads matter most in the first few months and at skateparks. Pad packs bundle knees, elbows and wrists together and are the cheapest way to cover it.
When should a kid move up to a bigger skateboard?
When their feet hang noticeably over the edges or the board starts feeling twitchy under them. Most kids get one to two years out of a size. You usually only need a new deck, since the trucks, wheels and bearings carry over.
Buying from us
Bring them into 435A Bridge Road, Richmond and we will stand them on a few boards. Five minutes in store beats any chart, and we will fit the helmet while you are here. Nobody on our floor works on commission, so if the $99 board is the right one, that is what we will tell you.
Every complete is checked and adjusted before it ships. Free shipping Australia wide on orders over $90. Call 03 9421 2293.
Keep reading: What Size Skateboard Do You Need? · How to Choose a Skateboard · How Much Does a Skateboard Cost? · Skateboard Maintenance Guide
Shop: Complete Skateboards · Helmets and Protection · Pad Packs · Protective Pads