Blog - Rainbow Rink

How To Choose The Perfect Halloween Costume

October 3, 2022 by Writers Leave a Comment

Halloween is around the corner, have you picked out your costume? If not, don’t fret! We have you covered with our tips on how to choose the perfect Halloween costume.

The Perfect Halloween Costume For You

This should be the easiest. When it comes to planning your perfect Halloween costume, start with your interest and hobbies. If you’re into sports, dress us as your favorite professional player. If you’re into scary, dress up as your favorite character from a scary movie.

Couples Halloween Costume Ideas

When there’s two people involved, whether it’s your partner or best friend, picking a Halloween costume depends on if you’re dressing to compliment each other. Some ideas are to dress up as your favorite duo or a pair of objects like salt and pepper.

Group Halloween Costume Ideas

When it comes to picking a Halloween costume for several people, you’ll want to think of groups of things, people, or animals. Some ideas are the Power Rangers, zombies, or lions. However, your options are truly unlimited!

Pet Halloween Costume Ideas

A costume for a pet can be such a fun idea! However, it is important that they are comfortable with wearing the costume, especially if they’ve never worn one before. Visit your nearest pet store for some cute pet costumes or search for something that matches your costume online!

How-To-Choose The Best Trick-Or-Treating Costume

When it comes to picking the best trick-or-treating costume, safety should be your main concern. Make sure everyone can see you in the day or night with bright, shiny, or reflective costumes.

Best At Home Halloween Costume

There’s usually always one person left behind to tend to the trick-or-treaters or maybe celebrating Halloween at home is more of your thing. If either of these are the case, that doesn’t mean you can’t dress up! Find something easy and comfy to dress up in to celebrate around the house!

No matter how you choose to spend Halloween and whether you dress up alone, as a couple, or as a group, we hope you have a great Halloween! Be sure to join us for the Great Skate Halloween Party on Wednesday, October 26, 2022, for all the details on the party visit here.

Hit The Jackpot With These Arcade Tips

September 20, 2022 by Writers Leave a Comment

We all remember the days of going to the arcade as a kid and the adrenaline high you get as the tickets are blasting out of the machine. It was always made for such a fun family day! If you’re looking to take your family to the arcade and want to hit the jackpot, you may be wondering what tips or tricks you can learn to win more. Keep reading to learn our best tricks for hitting the jackpot at the arcade!

Play ticket based games

This one may seem a bit obvious, but it’s a good place to start! If you want to win more tickets, you have to make sure you play ticket based games.

Choose the machine with the lowest high score

Let’s say there are 3 basketball games that are all the same. If you choose the machine with the lowest high score, you have more of a chance to get to the bonus round. More playing and points in the bonus round means more tickets!

Choose claw machines that have more toys

Claw machine games typically require a lot of luck. However, they are not impossible. If you choose a claw machine that has more toys stacked inside, you have more of a chance to grab one and beat the odds.

If you want to test all of our tips, come check out the Game Zone at Rainbow Rink! Check out the schedule for our hours of operation and more details.

How To Beat Blisters Before They Happen

September 1, 2022 by Writers Leave a Comment

Blisters on your feet are the absolute worst, especially when it comes from doing your favorite activity, roller skating! Yet, with the right corrective and preventative blister treatment, you’ll be back skating with us at Rainbow Rink in no time!

3 Tips To Beat Roller Skating Blisters Before They Happen

Break Your Skates In

When you use your skates and use them often, the material will soften and form to your feet. In order to break in your skates without hurting your feet, skate for a short amount of time in the beginning. As you continue to skate, gradually skate for a longer amount of time during the following sessions.

Make Sure They’re The Correct Size

A large amount of blisters occur because people wear the wrong sized skates. Wearing the correct size will help you skate better because your feet and the roller skates will be able to act as one.

Keep Your Feet Protected

Never roller skate without socks or even with socks that are very thin. Wearing thicker socks helps fill out your skates and protect your ankles from blisters. If you would like to have extra protection, use blister pads. They are cushioned pads that help blister prone areas stay protected.

How To Treat Roller Skating Blisters

So let’s say you have a couple of roller skating blisters already and want to know how to heal them as quickly as possible. It is totally normal and do not worry, blisters typically don’t take very long to heal. You’ll be back skating with us in no time!

To treat your blisters, apply aloe vera or witch hazel to the affected area with a cotton ball. Cover it with a Band-Aid if you need to put socks or shoes on. However, it’s important to leave the blister uncovered as much as possible so they can breathe and heal.

We hope these tips and tricks help you treat and prevent blisters! We’ll see you back on the rink with us soon!

3 Tips For Throwing A Perfect Birthday Party

August 29, 2022 by Writers Leave a Comment

Does your child have an upcoming birthday? If you’re in the North Tonawanda area, choose Rainbow Rink to host your child’s birthday party! We make sure every child has the perfect birthday at Rainbow Rink!

We have four different party packages available. All packages include rental skates, drinks for the skaters, pizza, popcorn, and parents of the birthday child can skate for free!

How can you make your child’s birthday party even more perfect? Try these tips:

Choose a theme!

Decorate your child’s party table and cake in their favorite superhero, movie, color, or anything they could ever want! You can really find any decor online now. Some popular themes we see are SpiderMan, Frozen, and Mario Kart! This is your chance to personalize the party to your child and their interests.

Keep a gift list!

Will your kid be opening birthday gifts during their party? Save yourself a lot of future trouble by keeping a list of who gave which gift – this will make sending thank-you cards simpler and more personal! If you think you’ll be busy, designate an official gift-list secretary (such as an older sibling or grandparent ) ahead of time to handle the task.

Get out on the rink!

Don’t just observe from the sidelines – get out on the rink and have some fun! The memories you make with your kids during their birthday party will last their entire lifetime, longer than any gift!

Want to learn more about our birthday party packages at Rainbow Rink? Visit the party page on our website!

Ready to plan a birthday party with us? All parties require a reservation, so give us a call at 716-693-1100 to book yours today!

How To Stay Safe On Roller Skates

July 27, 2022 by Writers Leave a Comment

It’s a good thing to think through how to stay safe before doing any sort of activity. When it comes to roller skating, this is no exception and is important. Skating is a great workout and tons of fun, but you can get hurt if you don’t follow safety guidelines like any physical activity. We’re all about keeping people safe and having fun at Rainbow Rink!

Check out the top 3 skating tips every rollerskater should know before getting on the rink:

Mind Your Manners

Hitting the roller skating rink is so much fun. There’s cool music, fun lighting, and other skaters! Since there are other skaters on the rink, it’s important to know the basic roller skating rink etiquette:

Skate in the flow of traffic.
Like driving, don’t cut anyone off. Be sure to slowly merge to different areas of the rink to get to where you want to go.
If you fall, get up safely and as quickly as possible. Try to avoid putting your hands on the skating rink to protect them from other skaters. Try putting your hands on your thighs to push yourself up to your knees and then stand.
If you’re trying a new trick or skating fast, be mindful of others around you!

Wear The Right Gear

Wearing protective gear to skate indoors or outdoors is never a bad idea. Some good protective gear to have for roller skaters are elbow pads, knee pads, wrist guards, helmet, and padded shorts. This gear will help soften any sort of fall you may experience while skating.

Stay Alert

Be aware of your surroundings and pay attention while you skate. It’s easy to get lost in the movement and music, but it’s important to stay aware of other skaters while skating indoors, and outdoor elements and traffic while skating outdoors.
We hope these tips help you stay safe while roller skating. We’d love to see you at Rainbow Rink. Check out our new summer hours to skate along with us!

Make 2022 Your Summer of Skating

July 21, 2022 by Writers Leave a Comment

Roller skating is a great summer activity! If you haven’t already, now is your chance to make 2022 your summer of skating. But why should you choose skating for your new summer activity?

Check out these 3 reasons why we think you should make 2022 your summer of skating:

Escape The Heat

Who wants to be underneath the hot sun in the summer? No one! Heat can make you feel sick and dehydrated, but you need to get a workout in even during the summertime. Beat the heat and sun, and get a good workout in the air conditioning.

Get Off The Couch

Don’t spend your entire summer vegging on the couch watching Netflix or playing video games! You don’t want to look back once summer is ending and regret all the time your family spent in front of the television. Going to the skating rink allows your family to get in some exercise, make new friends, and create new memories together!

Celebrate All Summer Long

Your local roller skating rink gives you the opportunity to celebrate all summer long! Not to mention again, but it’s out of the heat! Roller skating is a great opportunity to celebrate birthdays or team parties. You could even celebrate summer with your kid’s school friends or have a back to school party to reunite everyone before the kids start back to school or their sport starts back up.
We’d love to see you skating all summer long throughout summer 2022 at Rainbow Rink. Check out our new summer hours to skate along with us!

Picture This: Capture Better Skating Photos and Videos

June 28, 2022 by Writers Leave a Comment

Within the past decade it has been more common for people to capture photos and videos on their phone rather than a traditional camera. With #SkateTok quickly gaining popularity over the past year, we’ve seen it for ourselves on the rink. If you’re looking to show off your skating moves on TikTok or just for yourself, we’ve come up with our 5 favorite techniques to capture them!

Panning Shot

Panning combines slow shutter speed and camera motion that is focused on your moving subject. You can keep the skater in focus while blurring the background. It is best in landscape mode. It is not an easy technique to master, but it is worth it once you do.

Invisible Motion

Invisible motion is a super cool technique. You photograph movement, but you don’t see the subject. An example of this is the light trials from cars, you can see the trial of lights but can’t see the cars on the road. For this to work best, you typically need a longer shutter speed. It will give your skater a ghostlike presence in the photo.

Blurred Images

Blurred images are some of the most popular. They can tell a great story as well and make the image look more like a painting. To accurately do this technique, you choose a longer shutter speed, focus on the subject, and then slighting move your phone from side to side.

Chronography

Chronography is when you capture movement by taking several images and combining them into one. It’s very popular in skating, skateboarding, and skiing to see the full range of motion in one image. You’ll want to have your phone on a tripod to prevent any camera shake and choose continuous shooting mode. From this, you’ll capture every range of motion and be able to put them all together using computer software like Adobe.

Timelapse

You can easily capture movement with a timelapse. Luckily enough, most smartphones now have a timelapse option. So it’s as easy as turning it into timelapse mode and recording!

Remember that with any of these techniques, practice makes perfect! With your new camera skills, you may have the next viral skating video on TikTok in no time. Remember while you’re practicing to come skate with us at Rainbow Rink!

Protect Your Toes On The Rink!

June 17, 2022 by Writers Leave a Comment

When skating, sometimes there’s no way to avoid falling, bumping, scratching, or sliding, especially if you’re a new skater. So how can you protect your toes on the rink when you fall or slide? You need toe caps on your skates!

What are toe caps?

Toe caps, also known as toe guards, go on the nose of your skates. They not only protect your toes, but your skates as well. There are many variations of them. Most of them have a large hole for your toe stop and either one large hole or two smaller holes to run your laces through.

How do you put toe caps on your roller skates?

Because there is a space for laces and a space for the toe stops to go through the toe cap, you’ll need tools to help take the toe stop off and of course you’ll need your skates. Here’s how you add toe caps to your skates:

Remove the laces entirely and set them to the side.
Take the toe stop off, and set the bolt and washer to the side.
Once your laces and toe stop are off, you’re ready for toe covers.
Place toe covers on your skates and get everything lined up.
Then you’ll put the toe stop back on properly. The flow should be toe cover, bolt, washer, and then toe stop. That way you can hear the washer rattling if your toe stop becomes loose.
Get your toe stop to the height you prefer and tighten the bolt.
Then simply just lace back up your skate. There are many ways to lace your skates back up, you can choose which way looks and feels best to you.
Once you’ve got the skate laced back up, your toe cap should be secure on the skate.
Then repeat the process with your other skate!

We hope these tips help you preserve your toes and skates! Make sure your toes are protected next time you’re skating with us at Rainbow Rink!

Which Roller Skating Wheels Are Right For You

May 31, 2022 by Writers Leave a Comment

You probably know that there are many different types of roller skating, but did you know there are even more types of skate wheels? There are certainly generic wheels for skates, but there are also wheels that were created for certain types of skating. When you’re looking at getting new wheels for your skates, it’s important to choose the right wheels for the type of skating you enjoy. Here are the 3 main categories of wheel differences you should look into before purchasing a new set of wheels:

Hardness

Wheel hardness can also be referred to as the grip level. You can find it as a number with an A behind it. The higher the number is, the harder the wheel and the less grip it has. For example, a high hardness with no grip would be 103A. When outdoor skating, a softer wheel is needed. Softer wheels will absorb more shock as you roll over cracks and any other small debris outside. A good wheel hardness to look at for outdoor skates would be 78A.

Size

Sometimes there are differences in the outer width and height of the wheels. The other measurements of the wheel are height and width and they are measured in millimeters (mm). If you tend to skate a certain style, it would be good to check with other skaters that skate that style to see what they prefer. Wheels also come in several heights. Large wheels make it easier to maintain speed, but smaller wheels are better for quick movement. It may take a bit of experimenting to decide which height is best for you and your skating style.

Hubs

There are 2 main styles of hubs, nylon and aluminum. Nylon is lighter and most common in skate wheels. Aluminum is sturdier and has less give to it. If you find yourself needing to change your wheels frequently, it may be time to invest in aluminum hubs.

We hope these tips help you choose the best roller skating wheels! We can’t wait to see your wheels hitting the rink at Rainbow Rink!

Summer Bucket List

May 20, 2022 by Writers 1 Comment

Summertime brings the warm, beautiful weather, long days, and fun activities! It’s time for you to start making your family’s 2022 summer bucket list. There are so many things you can do around Tonawanda, New York. It will be hard to fit everything in over just the few months of summer. Because of this, we put together a list of 5 things that need to be on your bucket list for summer 2022!

Saturday Morning Shopping

Get some fresh produce and other goods for your family at the North Tonawanda Farmers Market! Discover new fruits and veggies from local farmers, or pick up gifts and goodies from makers in the community. The farmer’s market is a great place to spend the day learning about nutrition, cooking, farming, and more with the whole family!

Practice Your Aim

Adventure Landing Buffalo is a great place to brush up on your mini golf skills. For a little extra competition, form teams and compete to see who’s the ruler of the course. Losing team buys the post-game ice cream!

Spend A Day On The Water

Get out on the water with Erie Canal Boat Company. Rent a few kayaks and enjoy beautiful weather, fresh air, and exercise while you explore all the beauty of the area from a new point of view.

Skate Your Worries Away

We couldn’t leave out a trip to see us at Rainbow Rink. Your family can skate along and have fun with us all day long.

Make sure to let us know that you’re doing our summer bucket list suggestions while you’re here!