Nathan Y Jarvis
Expert Kid-Friendly Guest Experiences
nathan jarvis, snowsports & smartful kids
Nathan Y Jarvis is an award-winning, internationally known illustrator whose work has appeared in scores of fun books, magazines, murals and on playful packaging. Nathan is also a PSIA-AASI certified Children’s Specialist ski instructor and retired staff trainer at Park City Mountain Resort. He has helped kids, fun loving adults, and new instructors discover the joys of the “most gooderest skiing.” You can find out more about his art and ski work here.
Nathan created Smartful Kids in 2018 to focus his creativity on his love of snowsports and the importance of helping new skiers and riders have a safer, more successful start. He focuses on edutaining and bringing hope and smiles to children and adults who find themselves in challenging situations, e.g. learning to ski, learning what life after a natural disaster looks like, and/or anything that is difficult or discouraging.
Nathan and his wife, Michaela, live in Heber City, UT.
Olympic skier Libby Ludlow teamed up with internationally known illustrator and PSIA certified ski instructor Nathan Y Jarvis, to create an alphabet book about the magical world of skiing. A-B-Skis is a playground of words and pictures from A to Z that’s sure to get your tiny rippers excited for winter fun. What better way to share your love for skiing with your favorite kiddo?
Don’t miss Libby and Nathan’s Pro Tips for parents and My Mountain Memories for kids at the back of the book!
A-B-Skis is in its sixth printing (first printing released October 2019). In 2020 it received four publishing awards:
• American Book Fest, Winner — Hardcover non-fiction/Children's Picture Books
• International Book Awards, Finalist — Children's Picture Book: Hardcover Non-Fiction
• Moonbeam Children's Book Awards, Bronze — Alphabet/Counting Book
• Writer's Digest, Honorable Mention — Early Readers/Children's Picture Books
A-B-Skis is available at a growing number of ski resort retail shops across the country, Amazon.com, PSIA-AASI, Backcountry.com and independent book sellers.
Endorsed by
When the 2020 ski season abruptly ended due to Covid -19 concerns, Nathan said, "I am going to end this season on my own terms!" So he turned his teaching and creative skills toward making sure that people would have a fantastic resource to help them be safer and more successful on the snow.
Get Nathan's FREE 31-page eBook to help you help your little rippers enjoy greater safety and success on the snow. It's a fantastic introduction to the Your Responsibility Code, and includes many helpful pro tips anyone can use.
new from PSIA-AASI
"I recognized a need for kids to stay connected to the fun and excitement of being out on the snow when they are not out on the snow. That's before a trip to the slopes, as well as after they're off the mountain. I also saw the need to help kids learn more about their responsibility to be safe and aware of the rules that everyone is supposed to be observing.
I have experience creating kids' materials for the likes of Highlights for Children, Sesame Street Magazine, and pretty much every major educational publisher in the United States for more than 30 years. Partnering with my fellow pros in PSIA-AASI to create a solid, fun and valuable resource for kids and their families was a perfect way to help educate and entertain our youngest, and I think most important, demographic—the next generation of skiers and riders.
The PSIA-AASI's Kid's Activity and Coloring Book is unique in terms of combining creativity and credentials. Just like A-B-Skis, there is nothing in print that captures the heart and soul of the sport, and offers it to kids in a form they want to return to again and again." (Nathan Y Jarvis/Co-creator of A-B-Skis, Creator of the PSIA-AASI's Kids' Activity and Coloring Book)
"PSIA-AASI's new Kids' Activity and Coloring Book uses games, puzzles, and coloring to teach kids how to have fun and be safe on the mountain. Illustrated by award-winning artist, A-B-Skis illustrator, and PSIA-AASI member Nathan Y Jarvis, this book provides resorts, instructors, and parents an activity that engages children in learning and play, and builds an emotional connection to snowsports.
Ski and ride schools can use the book to keep kids entertained indoors, or instructors can purchase copies as gifts for guests to serve as a memento of their vacation. The Kids' Activity and Coloring Book is available to snowsports schools, resorts, hotels, and instructors through the PSIA-AASI catalog (tiny.cc/PSIAAASICatalog)."
(32 Degrees, page 15, Fall 2020)
Smartful Kids is Nathan Y Jarvis, award-winning, internationally known illustrator and PSIA Children's Specialist laser-focused on making engaging, playful first impressions in places where little kids and their parents often find things to be challenging, impersonal and/or purely practical.
Nathan creates kid-friendly resources for resorts that are focused on families, loyalty, safety and learning. One of the primary goals of Smartful Kids is to improve beginner conversion statistics in the snowsports world. Currently under 20% of people who try out skiing or snowboarding decide to make it a lifetime activity.
There are multiple reasons for that, but one of the greatest opportunities to improve that % is the kind of first moments on their first day those people experience. Smartful Kids focuses on providing engaging, playful, and promising images that influence emotional experiences. Kid-friendly signage and graphics indoors and on the snow set the stage for what is in store for first-time skiers and riders.
Slopeside Safety
Smartful Kids provides signage to help promote Your Responsibility Code, the standards developed by the National Ski Areas Association to address the growing popularity of skiing and riding, and the associated need for guidelines or rules to describe proper behavior on the slopes.
It's not just about art, it's also about incorporating developmental psychology and professional snowsports education principles. Smartful Kids combines all three to create better beginnings for the youngest first-time skiers and riders so they'll want to come back for more fun on the snow year after year.
Covid-19 Safety Signs
Smartful Kids offers some lighthearted signage to help remind guests of the behaviors being required at responsible resorts to keep the spread of Covid-19 in check.
