Do you remember when you first took to learning how to ride a bike? I sure do, it was a painful experience. First, I tried to put my feet up in the peddles after pushing off. My legs always scraped the peddles leaving a scar. Next, I tried to balance the bike. At that time I had training wheels on my bike. But it always seemed like the training wheels were not adjusted correctly. The bike would rock to far to one side or the other. Always making it seem like I would fall in any second. It took me an entire year to learn after falling, scraping my legs and arms and sometimes getting my pants legs caught in the bike chain. This was before they had bike chain guards. What a miserable experience.
Well, times have changed. In this day and age their are many more much easier ways to learn how to ride a bike. All are less painful as technology has advanced.
What You Will Need..
So, what is the first thing that you as a parent will need to do to teach your child how to ride a bike. Well, that is easy you have to get a bike silly!!! How is your child supposed to ride if he or she does not have a bike. Now, I am going to recommend something different from the norm. I am going to recommend that you try out a balance bike for your child. If you read the intro and your are older than twenty five then you have had experience with learning to ride a bike with training wheels. I am sure you may have experienced everything that I explained in the intro. Balance bikes take away all of the problems that I talked about in the beginning. There are no peddles, no chains, and your child's feet stay on the ground until they learn how to balance the bike.
Their are not many makers of balance bikes but they do come in many sizes and styles. You will need to shop around and find a bike that will fit the size of your child and the stage they he or she is starting from. If your child is young starting out at around 2 years old I would recommend that you take a look at a Wishbone Bike. They carry bikes that look like tricycles but better. They are also lower to the ground and they will grow with your child.
For older children just starting out at ages 3 to 5 yrs old you may want to start with a Strider PREbike Running Bike or a bike like the Prince Lionheart Balance Bike. Also, be sure to purchase a helmet.
Where to Start?
Where to start your child depends on how confident your child is on a bike. But as a rule I always want to start a child on a area that is closed off with little to no traffic. This could be a park or a dead end street. A driveway is also a great place to start a child off on. If you have a small hill on your driveway a balance bike will be perfect. I have a small hill on my driveway and I allowed my children to roll their bikes down it into out backyard grass. They quickly learned to balance their bikes doing this repeatedly daily.
How To Teach Your Child?
Before I did anything in terms of teaching my child I first taught them how to stop their bikes. If they got into any trouble I always told them to hit the brakes. I also wanted them to go slowly down inclines and the brakes controlled their speed. In the case of their balance bikes their brakes was their feet. Next, the balance bike did the rest and their feet kept them upright. Start them off slow to allow them to get their confidence. As their confidence gets greater they will begin to take more and more chances and their balance will increase. Stick at it and allow them to practice everyday. Eventually, they will get the hang of it.
Stay the course and your son or daughter will be riding a bike in no time.
