Riding a bike. It’s like a right of passage into childhood. I didn’t start learning how to ride a bike until I was almost 5, so when Adelyn turned 4 we bought her a bike with training wheels in hopes that maybe when she turned 5 or 6 she would be ready to ride without the training wheels. Here’s what happened. We gave her the bike and thought she would love it and want to ride everyday, while in fact the complete opposite happened. We gave her the bike and she hated riding it. The pedals were to hard for her to push, she felt uncomfortable, and didn’t like how the training wheels made the bike wobble as she rode it. So back to riding her tricycle she went.
That is until she got her Strider Balance Bike. Friends, if I could give every parent in the world one tip it would be to skip the bike with training wheels, and buy your child a balance bike to learn on. Here’s why:
- With a Strider Bike your child can start as early as 6 months learning how to sit and balance on a bike
- They are designed to teach young children how to steer and balance on two wheels
- By using just foot propulsion, children are more likely to learn the fundamentals of riding, which then makes transitioning to a bike easy to do
Adelyn & Emery have been obsessed with learning to balance and steer on their bike, we actually have been letting them practice in the house as it’s too cold to go outside much right now. They are currently using the 14x Sport Strider Bike, which is recommended for ages 3-7. I love that once they seem like the have learned how to balance we can easily put on the pedals that came with their bike.
For Briar who is almost 8 months, we are allowing him to learn how to rock before he rides. We have the 12 Sport Baby Bundle with the attachable rocking base and this bike is good for ages 6 months up to 5 years old. I think it is SO neat that they have an option for babies to start getting used to sitting on a bike at the young age of 6 months. It acts just like a rocking horse, except you are allowing your baby to become familiar with sitting on a bike seat, how to hold the handle bars, and soon enough balance themselves enough to rock it back and forth!
Remember at the beginning of this post when I said that I thought that all kids learn how to ride a bike around the age of 5?? But what if they were able to start learning before they could even walk? I can’t wait to see how quickly Briar catches on by starting him this young!
Balance bikes are designed with only foot propulsion, so when they have the fundamentals of balance and steering down, then we can easily transition them to a bike with pedals. This is why training wheels aren’t needed and they are able to teach themselves how to ride a bike at their own pace. With a Strider Bike they are able to develop balance, coordination, and confidence.
Riding a bike may be a right of passage into childhood, but it also plays a part in their development with balance, coordination, and confidence. Giving our children a Strider Bike has not only been amazing in the developmental aspect, but in encouraging them to play each day. No lie, they love their bikes so much that they park them next to their bed each night, and first thing in the morning they are up riding them around the house. (I can’t wait for warmer weather and not to have my toes ran over anymore…) I LOVE that they are playing and having the best time each day learning to balance on their bikes so that this summer we will possibly be able to add the pedals.
These have been the BEST gift to our children. It’s the gift that can ride with them throughout their childhood.