Teaching your child to ride a bike

Teaching your child to ride a bike is one of the proudest moments a parent can feel. Your heart just swells up when your little one figures out the power of perpetual pedal motion. “Look mummy, I’m riding my bike!” Your child cries out in glee and you can’t help but shred a tear or two over their accomplishment.

Maybe your child will learn really quickly. Maybe your child will keep falling off their bike and may want to give in. But when you are teaching your child to ride a bike you are not only teaching him/her balance skills, you are also teaching perseverance. Once they have mastered the skill of cycling they will feel a sense of achievement and that will release some juicy happiness hormones and everyone will feel delight and joy.

Mastering Multi-tasking

Firstly, your child figured out how to sit up. Great. Then they worked out how to stand up. Awesome. Then they figured out how to walk, and there was much rejoicing. Now you are expecting them to balance on a bike, whilst peddling and steering and braking before they crash into a wall. Yikes!

For some children they take to riding a bike as a duck takes to water. For others, it can take a long time to master how to ride a bike. I was given a large tricycle when I was young, so I had no need to learn to ride a bike until I was quite a bit older. It was really embarrassing being the only child who couldn’t ride a bike in my neighbourhood. One day, the children of my neighbourhood rallied round to teach me how to ride a bike. I was very uncoordinated, so, I understand the struggle it is to learn to ride a bike.

The secret to learning to ride a bike is to master two of the skills initially, and then add the last skill on top. It is like learning to juggle two balls before introducing a third ball.

Balance Bikes vs Stabilizers

For many years stabilizers were the only additional support for children learning to ride their bikes. The little wheels at the back supported the rider should they lean too far left or right. This meant a child could focus on just mastering the action of peddling and steering at the same time, without having to concentrate on balancing.

In 2007, the Strider balance bike was introduced to the American market. It did not have peddles, so children could learn how to balance and steer first of all, without worrying about peddling. If they lost their balance they just needed to put their feet on the ground to stop themselves from falling. There are no brakes on a balance bike.

I confess, initially I thought balance bikes were a stupid invention. I thought children looked daft sitting on their balance bikes and just walking on the ground, like Fred Flintstone driving the family car with his feet.

A primitive method of travel

I insisted Sops had a bike with stabilizers so she would learn how to peddle first and use brakes. But she struggled to ride her first bike. The stabilizers seemed to be an obstacle, rather than an aid. My friends recommended balance bikes and so I swallowed my pride and bought a balance bike for Sops, and she took to it like a monkey climbing a tree. She was so comfortable riding the bike and learnt to balance really quickly.

Shortly after using the balance bike we took the stabilizers from her first bike and she could ride it straight away without falling off. Now I am a massive advocate of balance bikes. Teach your child to balance and steer and then introduce peddles and brakes.

Don’t Buy Bikes. Hire Them

Children grow and learn so quickly. They can grow out their bikes almost as quickly as their shoes. So what is the point of spending hundreds of pounds on brand new bikes every few months? Why not hire a new or refurbished bike? The Bike Club have a plethora of new and refurbished bikes and they deliver Nationwide. They specialise in children’s bikes and you can hire a balance bike for as little as £5 per month. If your child masters the balance bike straight away you can exchange for a small peddle bike. All the bikes are from top quality manufacturers such as Frog, Strider and Isla bikes.

You can even sell your old bikes to them.

This is a great affordable way of living sustainably. You are helping both your wallet and the environment when you sign up. Instead of having a multitude of old rusting bikes mounting up in your garage, you can simply upgrade your child’s bike as they grow. Also, you have the choice to buy the bike after 32 months subscription payments.

I highly recommend you consider joining The Bike Club when you are ready to purchase your child’s first bike.

Safety First

When your child starts to learn to ride a bike they may fall off it a few times. This could cause a few scratches and bruises, but that is all part of learning and developing a resilient nature. So I would not necessarily recommend you strap loads of padding on your child as they learn. However, it is incredibly important your child wears a well fitted helmet. They need to get used to wearing a helmet every time they cycle, whether it is in their garden or during the Tour De France when they are grown up. Cycle helmets can prevent death or even brain damage during an unforeseen crash, but only if they are worn corrected and they fit perfectly. For more information on how to measure for a cycle helmet check out the Raleigh Bike guide here.