Best Way To Teach Your Child How To Ride A Bike

Learning how to ride a bike should be an exciting experience for a child, but the experience is often fraught with frustration for both parents and children. If you want to teach your child how to ride a bike, start with the right equipment to give your child confidence.

Many parents purchase pedaled bikes with training wheels when they are ready to teach their child to bike. Training wheels may seem like an easy solution and a "quick fix" that enables a child to bike instantly, but they will cause frustration in the long run. Training wheels do not allow a bike to lean or tilt gently to one side. As a result, children using training wheels do not learn how to balance or how to safely regain their balance if a bike tilts or leans to one side while making a turn. Training wheels may even pose a safety risk as the bike can tip over if a child turns too quickly or rides over uneven ground.

Since training wheels do not teach children how to balance, children are not "trained" how to ride a bike by using training wheels. In fact, it is common for a child to spend two or even three years using training wheels. A better choice is to teach a child how to balance first.

The classic technique for teaching a child how to ride a bike is sometimes called the "run behind the bike" method. In this method, a parent holds the bike seat while a child pedals the bike. The parents helps a child maintain balance and eventually "lets go" of the bike. This technique works for many children, but painful falls while learning are inevitable for all but the most coordinated children.

Falling is not fun or safe for a child, and watching your child fall is stressful for parents. Memories of a bad fall or even just a fear of falling can deter a child from learning how to ride a bike. Teaching your child how to ride a bike should be safe, easy and fun. An ideal solution is the balance bike.

Balance bikes look similar to regular children's bikes, but they do not have pedals. Children propel balance bikes forward using their feet, which is why balance bikes are sometimes called run bikes. Children feel confident riding a balance bike because they can easily place a foot down if they need to regain their balance.

Balance bikes let children master steering and balancing before pedaling and braking. As children gain confidence using a balance bike, they are able to glide at faster and faster speeds. Gliding is fun, which encourages children to keep practicing on their balance bikes. Once children are confident in their ability to balance, they can easily transition to a pedaled bicycle without needing training wheels.

Balance bikes help children learn how to bike. While the goal of purchasing a balance bike is preparing a child to ride a bicycle, many children will happily ride their balance bike for several months or even years after mastering a pedaled bicycle. While parents may view balance bikes simply as training tools, kids view them as similar to a scooter or skateboard and ride them just for the fun of it.