There's a lot to do once the weather gets cold.  Hopefully you put the frame for your ice rink up in the fall when it wasn't too cold.  I try to get mine up in on a "warmer" weekend in November.  In lower Michigan there is usually at least one weekend where the temperature gets up to 50 degrees or so.

The next step is to get the liner up.  But wait, you should be certain that it will be cold enough long enough before you start.  Putting the liner in early might seem like a good idea, but in truth it can lead to a lot of work.  If you put your liner in before you put water into it you will need to weigh it down with rocks so that it doesn't blow away.  You will need to keep animals out of it, as they might poke a hole in it.  You will need to keep kids out of it, as the WILL poke a hole in it.  When you finally are ready to fill it, you will need to clean out any leaves, sticks or anything else that may have accumulated.  Don't be tempted into letting leaves stay in your rink.  Their dark color will cause the suns rays to be absorbed and cause holes in your ice later on.

Ok, it's going to be cold and your liner is in place.  Now what? 

The first time you fill your rink is always fun.  Get the hose out and turn the tap on fully.  Also, take note of the time you start.  If this is your very first time ever, I recommend starting in the morning on a day when you can be home all day long.  My first rink took about 8 hours to fill.  The rink I build now takes about 16 hours.

As your ice rink fills, occassionally take a look at it.  If you spot any dark patches under the water you may need to do some patch work.  The area becomes dark because the ground UNDER your liner is getting wet.  If there isn't much water near the hole, you can try to patch the area.  You'll need to find a way to hold the water back.  It may be possible to do this with sand bags, but only if there isn't much water in the area.  If you're able to hold the water back, then dry the plastic near the hole and use underwater tape, like you can purchase to patch a kiddie swimming pool, to patch the hole.  If the hole is larger or more like a rip, you can use a scrap piece of liner from the edge and tape this piece over the rip.  Also, a hot glue gun works well for this type of patching.  Use a scrap piece of plastic and glue it over the rip.  See my page on larger rink liners for more information about using the hot glue gun in this manner.

If you're not able to hold back the water you won't have many options.  Underwater tape doesn't work when you apply it to an already wet surface.  (If anyone knows of something that does work when applied to a wet surface, please, email me!)  One solution that I have used in the past is to actually submerge a smaller sand back onto the rip.  Create a bag of sand an inch or two high and place it over the rip right in the water.  Use a white garbage bag, preferably doubled, to hold the sand.  You have to use enough sand to hold back the water.  The white garbage bag keeps the suns rays from being attracted to the sand and causing melting later on.

Once your water level is 3 or more inches deep everywhere in your rink turn off the water and let 'er freeze.

The final step is one you'll need to get used to, as you'll be doing it every few days depending upon the use of your ice rink.  You need to drain your hose!  Just let that hose sit on the lawn and it will be useless for the rest of the winter.  Draining your hose can be done in several ways.  First, if you have a hill, let it drain naturally.  I personally use an air compressor to blow out the hose, as my rink is pretty far from my house and I use a lot of hose.  I bought a 1 1/4 inch coupler that directly connects my compressor hose to my garden hose.  Finally, I know of a few people who use one of the hose reel systems to collect their hose each time.  This is very useful and I have one myself.  It's still good to drain the hose, as the reel becomes very heavy if the hose is full of water.  The portable hose real is best, because you can always bring it inside to thaw if you didn't quite get all of the water out.

I love the first cold snap.  It's great to be out in the fresh air preparing something you know your kids will love all winter long.