How to teach a kid to ride a bike?

[Sharon37127]

I feel silly to ask this since I have an 11yo that rides. Neither my husband nor I can remember *teaching* him- although he did have training wheels years ago. We have a 7yo son that is really too big for a bike that can acomodate training wheels. He is tall enough to use the bike he has, but obviously is having a time learning. We've just been holding the bike up for him and riding up and down the street. Oh, we also invested in elbow pads and knee pads. any advice?

[KungFuPanda]

When dd was 6, I tried several sessions of holding the seat while she attempted biking. It did nothing. DH took her to a grassy hill and pushed her down a few times and she knew how to ride. I guess the comfort of a grassy landing was more reassuring than the ease of a flat, paved path.

[kroe1]

:)

[kroe1]

My DH taught all the neighborhood kids by twisting a jump rump around their chests up under the arm pits. He would hold on to just the rope close to their backs and then run with them. He did not hold onto the bike. Since the kiddo was being held up, but also was balancing themselves at the same time, they learned very fast, usually within just a few hours.

 

HTH

:)

[Grover]

DS jut couldn't get it from the traditional 'hold on behind' and run thing, so we took him to a school that had lots of wheelchair ramps. We got him to roll down lots of times gradually starting from higher up the ramps with no feet on the pedals, then once he was confident at that, suggested he put his feet on the pedals and see how he went when he rolled out onto the flat. He got it first time and never looked back.

[Mom2Es]

What you are describing is basically how I learned. It did take a long time because I was a scaredy-cat.

 

We gave our kids balance bikes when they were 3 and skipped training wheels. When it came time for a regular bike, they were pretty much ready to go other than some lessons on how to get going with the pedals.

[Mommyof4ks]

Funny you should ask. We just finally got our 8 yr old to ride without training wheels, and for him it just took riding in the grass. He said he was not afraid to fall on the grass. Our 12 yr old dd just needed the promise of a coke float to learn this week lol. Seriously, she was 'unable' to ride for all these years, and magically figured it out when we went out for coke floats to celebrate brother learning to ride. The next day she rode for half an hour and we got floats. I know what I am going to say to my 6 yr old next week when we go back to the park. ;)

 

Things we tried:

Taking the peddles off - supposedly that helps them learn to balance

Holding only the seat

Holding only the handle bars

Showing them on our bikes

[Tasia]

Two of mine never used training wheels, but for the two that did, when we thought they were ready, DH just raised the training wheels about an inch off the ground on both sides. For a few days, they got used to balancing when they were riding, but couldn't actually fall sideways because the training wheels would "catch" them.

 

Several neighbor kids have learned to ride on the field next to our house. The soft landing seems to help. :)

[kitten18]

My kids both had bikes with training wheels but it seemed like they were not getting any closer to taking them off, so we made a balance bike. We still had a little 12" bike, so I took the chain and pedals off it and it became a balance bike. After they were comfortable on the balance bike, we did a couple days of holding the seats and they were off.

[Pamela H in Texas]

We take off the guts (chain, pedals, etc) and let them practice pushing it around. Our 4yo did that for two weeks. We put everything back on and he was cool. We got our neighbor (turns 6 this month) doing it. She may only need a week, maybe even less. We are also doing it with our new six year old. It may take her a full two weeks. We plan to do it next month, again, when our little guy turns 4. Best method EVER! So low key and easy!

[melissad2]

My 5yo seen a bunch of older kids riding without training wheels at the campground and that was motivation enough. As soon as we got home he wanted the traing wheels off and his dad pushed him down the hill on the grass a few times and he was off!

[MistyMountain]

Take the pedals off and use it as a balance bike and when he gets the hang of balancing you can put them back on. He can start pedaling by putting one foot on the higher pedal when it is in position to go down and pushing then picking up the other pedal with his foot once it gets going.

[MistyMountain]

Take the pedals off and use it as a balance bike and when he gets the hang of balancing you can put the pedals back on. He can start pedaling by putting one foot on the higher pedal when it is in position to go down and pushing then picking up the other pedal with his foot once it gets going.

[lea1]

My kids both had bikes with training wheels but it seemed like they were not getting any closer to taking them off, so we made a balance bike. We still had a little 12" bike, so I took the chain and pedals off it and it became a balance bike. After they were comfortable on the balance bike, we did a couple days of holding the seats and they were off.

 

This is what we did too. I found some really cheap, very small bikes on Craig's list and bought them. We took off the pedals but left the chain and the rest of it intact. We happened to be living in a house on a corner that had a lot of sidewalks around it and there was just enough of a hill to let them coast without picking up too much speed. This is how they learned to balance. If they thought they were going too fast, they would just turn the bike into the grass and let it fall over.

 

Once they were balancing well, we put the pedals back on and they pretty much took off, since they already knew how to pedal. We had to show them how to get started a couple of times and that was pretty much it.

[Whereneverever]

Another vote for rolling down a grassy hill, no feet on pedals. Work on balancing and steering before pedaling gets added into the mix.

[catz]

We took our kids to a big, open, grassy field with the bike consistently for a couple weeks and that was all it took! Slight downhill slope was helpful in the beginning.

[romeacademy]

I think we used the "running behing holding the seat" technique for the oldest two. With the youngest 3, we moved them back to a smaller bike (12-20 inch) without the training wheels. Something about it worked, maybe the lower center of gravity? Whatever it was, they were all riding in less than 30 minutes.

[SKL]

My eldest got it pretty easily the traditional (no-training-wheels) way. I bought her a pair of overalls which I hung onto while she rode; I'd read that was better than holding onto the bike itself. Gradually she could go farther and farther on her own, until at some point she didn't need help any more. She was a bit under age 5.

 

My youngest, now 5, is a wobbly kid. She just doesn't have great balance / coordination. She was working on riding an old 12" bike, but it became too small for her. Got her a 16" bike, which is a little big for her, and that really helped. I think because (a) it's not so easy to keep putting her feet down and (b) it's a lot less work to pedal. She's a lazy kid, and pedaling the little bike enough to keep it balanced was not fun for her. Now she just has to figure out the brakes before she rams into someone or drives into the creek.

 

I took the training wheels off before really using the bikes, because I did not want my kids to be in the habit of leaning for "security" while riding. Training wheels distort the way a bike works. In fact, when I went to buy my youngest's bike (which came with training wheels), my eldest was unable to ride it in the store. Why? Because she kept trying to make it turn by leaning her body, the way she subconsciously turns her own bike.

 

I like the idea of the balance bike / taking off the pedals, but I didn't hear about that until my kids were, in my opinion, too old to need it.

 

The idea of riding downhill in the grass is a good one. Another thing that was helpful for my youngest was to have a nice wide, flat area to ride in (like an empty basketball court), so she could go in whatever direction the bike wanted to go as she worked on staying upright. My eldest, however, benefited from initially having a straight line or wall to define her route. Being able to go just anywhere seemed to disorient her. She has vision issues, so that could be part of it.

[Spy Car]

Run on the side (not behind) with one hand on the handlebar the other on the back of the seat. Parent runs, child pedals.

 

Parent releases (briefly) then reestablishes hand position, then releases again (a little longer). Up and down the block a few times (longer releases each time) and the kid is ready to go.

 

Practice "how to stop" first! :D

 

Training wheels are the devil :tongue_smilie:

 

Bill

 

ETA: Lowering the seat below what would be the optimal height for an experienced rider helps give children confidence they can "save" themselves when first starting. You can raise it progressively as they get the hang of it.

Edited April 15, 2012 by Spy Car

[Melissa in Australia]

Practice "how to stop" first! :D

 

.

 

Good advice,

My youngest learned how to ride a bike at 2. He jumped on his brother's,and took off. He had no idea how to stop, so he rode into a bush and clung to the branches to stop the bike.

 

We were amazed that he got balancing and peddling straight off. In his mind he was just as big as his brothers.

[Donna]

My middle ds took his own training wheels off his bike (he's very mechanically inclined) at 2.5yo and started riding without them because he wanted to be like his brother. He taught dd and all the neighborhood kids by holding the back of the bike and letting them pedal then letting go when they got the hang of it. They learned to start riding by starting going down a small hill. All was done in the grass to limit injury.

[NanceXToo]

My husband had no success trying to teach my daughter to ride (I think she was 8?) without training wheels. She just couldn't seem to get it, despite him trying for days.

 

Then her neighborhood friends, kids her age, decided to teach her, and they had her literally within like 30 minutes riding as if she'd been doing it forever.

 

What they did was have her keep her feet OFF the pedals, near the ground so she could very easily catch herself. They'd push her and she focused on nothing but steering and figuring out how to balance the bike. Trying to figure out steering, balancing AND pedaling all at once was just too much. But she could steer and balance while her legs dangled right near the ground, where she could easily put her feet down if the bike started to tip.

 

And after a little while of doing that, she got the hang of how to balance the bike, and THEN she added in pedaling, and never looked back.