Kids & Youth Snowboard Size Chart

Inside the youth snowboard size chart

Call it a kids snowboard size chart, a youth snowboard size chart, or a snowboard size chart kids can actually start on — it is the same table, and it starts with two numbers: your child's height and their weight. Every row above comes from a rule you can test in the garage: stand the board on end next to your child and the tip should land between their chest and their chin. Converted to centimeters, that becomes height × 0.88 — the same base formula we use for adults — wrapped in narrower weight bands, because kids grow unevenly and a youth board's soft flex makes weight count even more.

Age is only a proxy. A tall 8-year-old and a short 11-year-old can wear the same 115 cm board, which is why the chart is sorted by height first and treats age as a hint.

Snowboard size chart for kids by height and age

As a sanity check, typical pairings look like this:

• 3–4 years (about 100 cm tall) → 85–90 cm board
• 5–6 years (110 cm) → 95–100 cm
• 7–8 years (120 cm) → 103–108 cm
• 9–10 years (130 cm) → 112–118 cm
• 11–12 years (140 cm) → 122–127 cm
• 13–14 years (150 cm) → 130–136 cm
• 15+ years (155 cm or taller) → move to the adult chart below

Each height row carries roughly ±3 cm of range plus a weight allowance. If your child sits outside the weight band for their row, lean to the longer board for heavier kids and the shorter board for lighter ones.

Weight, boots and width on youth boards

Youth boards publish rider weight ranges just like adult boards, and they deserve the same respect: a 45 kg twelve-year-old should not ride the same 135 as a 30 kg eight-year-old. Width rarely comes up before the teenage years, but a teen with US men's 10.5 or bigger boots needs a mid-wide board exactly like an adult — the width and boot size guide explains why.

Should kids size up? No — with one exception

A too-long board is heavy, hard to flex and will not turn. Kids on oversized boards learn slower and fall more, and the extra season of "growing into it" never works out the way it promises. Buy for today, rent or buy used, and expect to resize every one or two seasons as they grow through boards.

The exception is the teenager tracking adult sizes: once they pass about 150 cm, switch to the adult snowboard size chart by height and weight and let them settle onto a normal-length board while they finish growing.

Youth snowboard size chart vs the adult chart: what actually changes

The base formula doesn't change for kids — height × 0.88 holds from 90 cm tall upward. What changes is everything wrapped around it. Children's boards are built softer and lighter at every length, so weight counts even more than it does for adults: a flex rating aimed at a 25 kg rider turns nothing for a 40 kg one. Width is rarely a question until the teenage years, when boots grow faster than the rest of the body.

There is a practical difference too. Youth charts stop around 150–165 cm in height, where kids cross into adult lengths and weight ranges — that is the crossover point where a rider leaves this kids' snowboard size chart and continues on the height and weight chart for adults. Everything in between is the same math, tuned for smaller riders.

What if my child is between two sizes?

Pick by weight first, height second. If your child sits near the top of the weight band for the shorter board and mid-row for the longer one, the decision makes itself: take the board whose weight range centers on their current weight. If the weight argument is genuinely a coin flip, lean short for a first board and long for a second one — progression boards reward stability and edge hold, first boards reward easy turning.

One more tiebreaker parents rarely know: flex, not length. Between a 110 cm board that is too stiff and a 105 cm board that is soft enough to press, the shorter-and-softer board wins for any rider under about 10 years old. Run both candidate sizes through the kids' calculator on our home page with your child's exact weight and the kids' sizing guide covers the rest of the checklist.

Four mistakes parents make when buying a kids' board

• Buying by age instead of height. Two 8-year-olds can be a head apart in height. Height and weight select the board; age is just a hint column.
• Sizing up "for next season." This is the classic adult mistake, and it costs a full season of progress. A board that fits today is the only thing that turns, flexes and teaches.
• Ignoring the weight range. Youth boards print rider weight ranges like adult boards do — and 12-year-olds vary from 30 to 60 kg, which is a bigger spread than most adult sizing.
• Boots with "room to grow." A loose boot removes steering control before anything else does. Boots fit now, with one thin sock; the bindings follow the boot, not the growth plan.

Avoid those four and the rest is easy: measure height and weight, run them through the calculator and table above, check the board's printed range, done. The kids' sizing guide retells this checklist with worked examples if you want a second pass.

From chart to first day

The board is one piece of the kit. Boots must fit now, with one thin sock — not with "room to grow" — and bindings should match the boot size on the manufacturer's youth chart. Pair this page with the snowboard size calculator on our home page for exact numbers, and the first-day setup will turn easily, forgive mistakes and keep the stoke high.