If you follow me on Instagram, you know that we take a daily walk. I am kind of serious about it. I often say “a walk a day, keeps us from going insane.” And usually on our walks, our kids ride a bike or scooter.
Last summer, we started off the summer by teaching our two oldest kids how to ride their bikes with no training wheels. Our youngest had his balance bike, and he is amazing on the balance bike. But now this year, my youngest is too big for his balance bike. But he didn’t feel confident enough on his “pedal bike” to ride it. And to be honest, I haven’t set aside the time to really double down on teaching him.
Until this week! My older kids are almost out of school for the summer. And once they are out, we are going to be doing way more biking. So he definitely needed to learn this week. I used the same method that we used with our other two kids to get them riding bikes confidently and quickly.
Work on Balance
Whether you start them on a balance bike or not, you still need to make sure they have good balance to start. Honestly, kids can learn balance just from lots of free play outside. We did have a balance bike that our kids used from a young age. But if you are trying to learn right now, don’t worry. I don’t feel like a balance bike was necessary at all. And if your kids are pretty active, chances are that they have already developed pretty good balance.
Motivation
Learning to ride a bike can be scary and overwhelming for your child. If they aren’t motivated at all, then don’t push it. It’s just going to be a rough experience for everyone. I really would wait until they feel motivated to do it. You might have to give them a little nudge. But I wouldn’t force it.
For my middle child – he is afraid of very little when it comes to things like this. So he really didn’t need a push to ride his bike. In fact, we really didn’t spend much time teaching him. He practically just hopped up and did it. Because he wasn’t afraid and he wanted to do it.
For my oldest – she was motivated by seeing her younger brother ride a bike. She was afraid to ride even with training wheels, until she saw her younger brother. And she was jealous that he mastered it before her. She learned pretty quickly after her brother did.
And for my youngest – he could ride his balance bike better than any kid I’ve seen. And he was perfectly happy with his balance bike. But he was getting too big for the balance bike, and started realizing that his older siblings are sooo much faster on their bikes. And I explained to him that his “pedal bike” can go a lot faster than his balance bike.
Having some kind of motivation really pushed them to work harder to do it.
Helmets
Right from the start, we were serious about safety on their bikes. My husband tells our kids “If you aren’t wearing a helmet, you aren’t riding a bike.” And my dad was super strict when I was a kid about wearing proper shoes when riding a bike. And now I am also serious about it. As far as being safe on cross walks and whatnot – we walk everyday and I have always been very strict about safely crossing the street, and giving others room on the sidewalk, sticking together and things like that.
The best thing you can do is to start early being strict about being safe. Especially helmets and shoes. Now it is just second nature for our kids. They just grab their helmets, and rarely have to be reminded. I am soo glad that I was so strict from the start.
Training Wheels
Okay, I feel like this might be a bit of an unpopular opinion. But I liked using training wheels with each of my kids. I know, I know. Lots of people hate them. But I really feel like it helped my kids get comfortable sitting on their bike, and get comfortable with pedaling. My youngest, especially, needed a few days on training wheels to get used to the pedaling motion. He was used to his balance bike, and adding in pedals felt a little odd to him.
If your child is pretty comfortable with pedaling, then you can skip training wheels. But if they seem pretty unsure of the bike, I think training wheels for a day or two is a great option. You really don’t need them for long. Just a couple days to get comfortable.
Hold On
Once they feel comfortable on the bike, and comfortable pedaling, you are going to take off the training wheels. You are going to have them hop on the bike. And you are going to hold onto them. Now wear your running shoes because they are going to ride their bike with you right beside them holding them up.
We tried a couple different tricks with my kids, like the towel trick. But each of them preferred when we stood on one side, and kept one hand under their arm (like under their armpit) on the opposite side. This kept them balanced, helped them to steer and helped them stay comfortable.
Let Go!
How long you spend holding onto your child while they ride is really going to depend on the child. But as they get more and more comfortable, move your hand more to their back. So you basically just have your hand on their back and you aren’t supporting or balancing them in any way. Then take your hand off for a few seconds at a time.
The first time you let go completely, they are likely going to panic a bit. Just be prepared for a reaction. You might need to catch them, or just hold on again right away. Each time they panic, I remind them that I am still right there next to them. And tell them how great they did without my support.
You will probably have to go back and forth from holding on, to just having a supportive hand on them, to letting go for a day until they start getting the hang of it. And the next couple days, you might need to start the ride by holding on for the first 20 feet or so. The best thing you can do over those couple days is to get them on their bike as often as you possibly can. The more exposure the better. Keep them on their bikes as much as you possibly can.
Pretty soon, you’ll let go and they won’t even notice. They’ll just keep riding as confident as you’ve ever seen.
Couple of Tips
- But a used bike: When my daughter first asked for a bike for her birthday, I was kind of shocked by the price of a new bike, honestly. She really wanted an all pink bike. But the ones I saw were over $100. So I turned to Facebook Marketplace. I found a used bike in good condition for $15. My husband cleaned it up, then painted it pink. And my daughter has absolutely loved her bike, just as much as she would have loved a brand new bike. Don’t go paying full price for a bike!
- Be Patient: Don’t rush them. Some kids just don’t feel comfortable on a bike! It can be so scary. And they might need a little bit longer to be ready to ride on their own. If you need to go back a couple steps, do that! It is totally okay. Sure you might need to give them a push to get out of their comfort zone. But there is no need to push them too hard.
- Keep it safe and fun! I know I mentioned this earlier, but just be super strict about safety right from the get go. Be clear and firm. You will never regret keeping things safe.
Having kids that can ride bikes is so fun! Even if it means my daily walks are probably going to turn into daily runs instead. Once they learn, come tell me how it went in the comments or message me on Instagram!
