Teach Your Todller to Ride a Bike
While no two children are the same, most parents start teaching their child to ride a bike much later than is actually necessary. Parents may feel they are protecting their child by waiting until they are “ready,” but the truth is most kids will benefit from an early start and this actually eases the process for both child and parent
A child’s emotional capabilities expand as they grow, and fear becomes a more nuanced emotion. A child under four doesn’t experience the same fears that a six-year-old may have about riding a bike. As kids age, they begin to worry about what their peers and parents think about them. They may be fearful that they won’t measure up, that they’ll disappoint mom and dad or that they just won’t be able to learn to ride their bike.
Kids ages 2-4 have all the motor skills required to ride a bike. In fact, they are at the perfect development stage to learn how to ride a bicycle, but there are a few factors that may prevent parents from starting to teach their child bike riding. Heading out to your local toy store and purchasing the latest princess or superhero bike for your girl or boy is probably just going to disappoint anyone under the age of five. Even the smallest pedal bike weighs in at over 20 lbs. Think about how hard it would be for you to ride a bike that weighed as much as you do.
There is an alternative to these pedal bikes that make it easy for small children to ride. They’re called balance bikes, or training bikes, and they’re designed specifically for the youngest of riders. Some weigh as little as 6 lbs and most no more than ten. They have no chain, sprockets or pedals. It’s an innovative design where kids use their feet to push themselves around, quickly learning to coast around under their own power. It’s a vehicle that puts the focus on balance and steering first.
Parents who teach their child to ride on a balance bike will discover that the child will have an almost immediate transition to a pedal bike without ever using training wheels. They shouldn’t be surprised; however, if the youngsters favor their balance bike over the pedal bike initially. Since the balance bike is lightweight and goes anywhere, kids often find it difficult to give up.
Kids who learn on a balance bike will never need training wheels and the parents who use this approach to teach their kids will never have to run behind a bicycle, hunched over, trying to keep their child from falling over.
You’ll be astounded at just how fast kids learn to ride on a balance bike. These toddler bikes are absolutely incredible.
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