How do I teach my child to ride a bicycle is one of the most frequent questions we receive. Here is a simple step by step guide that any parent can follow:
Firstly, find a suitable location. You will need plenty of space, a mix of different surfaces like gravel, bitumen and grass and ideally some flat and gradient areas. Quiet Cul-de-sacs and car parks work – the tighter the spaces the harder it’ll be to learn. I personally prefer some leafy parks with shade, trees and interesting areas to ride along as an extra incentive. As parks can get busy, chose a time when it’s still relatively quiet so your child doesn’t have to contend with too many walkers, runners and dogs.
Secondly, prepare the bicycle. A bicycle that’s too small will be terribly difficult to ride on. A bicycle that’s too big can potentially scare your child as they can’t make contact with their feet. What’s the right size? Get your child to sit on the saddle, if your child can comfortably reach the ground with his or her feet, that’s perfect. If they can only just reach with their tippy toes or there’s no contact with the ground, the frame is too big – particularly if the seat is on its lowest position. If your child has to bend the legs or would stand with space above the saddle, the frame is too small, particularly if the seat is on its highest setting.
If adjusting the seat doesn’t get your child into the optimum position, your frame isn’t suitable. Try and get the right size bike before attempting to learn to ride.
Remove training wheels. Training wheels do absolutely nothing for your child as they take away the ability to learn how to mount the bike and how to balance, which are both core skills of riding. Yes, your child will be to pedal, but pedalling is easy. Transitioning from training wheels will require you to follow the below steps. So, off they go, bye bye training wheels!
Check the brakes are working. Ideally you want a bicycle with two brake leavers on the handle bar. Most bigger bicycles have two brake leavers (as opposed to a pedal back brake) so why not learn one system once and make the rest of the life easier.
Once you know the brakes are working, check that your child is able to use the brakes – a lot of the times leavers are set so that adults can use them, but children can’t. Adjust the position of the brakes so your child can easily reach and pull the leavers.
Optional: remove the pedals. If you want to ease your child into riding, this is the gentlest option. Take the pedals off, keep them close by and when following the instructions below you get prompted to put them on, put them on. A tool is required for removal of pedals, but to put them on only elbow grease is required.
If the bike is ready, you’ve sourced a suitable location then you’re ready to rock’n roll:
- Explain to your child how brakes work and encourage him or her to always use both brakes. The left needs more pulling, the right is sensitive and both together will always help her control her bike.
- The main goal is to get him or her scooting, like on a balance bike. Scooting means you sit on your saddle and use your feet to move yourself forward. You can stabilise yourself by putting her feet down on the ground.
- Get them to start slowly, in their own time. Some children like to slowly ‘walk’ the bike, others go fast quickly. There’s no right or wrong here.
- If you haven’t removed the pedals get your child to stick their feet out like a v-shape so they don’t hurt themselves on the pedal.
- With growing confidence, encourage them to go a bit faster and count the seconds they can lift her feet off the ground and simply glide using the momentum they’ve build up. We’re aiming for three to five seconds of feet off the ground and the child gliding. That’d be sufficient time to start pedalling.
- Depending on your child’s progress this part can take a while. There’s no point in rushing this part as this is how your child learns to balance.
- To make it interesting you can swap between different surfaces – try to scoot down grassy slopes, gravel and/or bitumen and allow your child to feel the different responses of the bicycle. Anxious children tend to like grass as it slows the bicycle down and allows them to build their confidence.
- Your child will be ready for pedals when she can glide for three to five seconds. This is the right time to either put the pedals back or explain the next challenge. Show her how to move the pedals with her foot backwards to a parallel position. If the bike has a pedal back break this will be a bit frustrating and tricky, you will need to help your child to dismount, lift the bike and move the pedals for them.
- The goal is to put the pedals parallel to the ground then scoot as before. Once they have got the sense of gliding explain to your child to lift their feet up, place them on the pedals and start pedalling in a forward motion. Usually a lot of stop starts happen at this point in time. If you feel your child is getting frustrated, get them to refocus on scooting and gliding – the more confident they are at this, the easier it is to start pedalling.
While you may feel the urge to hold your child’s bicycle and run with her: don’t. You will need to allow your child to discover the feeling of balance on their own. If you hold the bicycle for your child you are depriving them of learning the skill and the magical sensations that come with it. While letting go may be a bit scary (for both of you), it is a step towards independence, which makes riding a bicycle so much fun. You can run behind your child when they scoot, glide or ride, but I would recommend if you are keen to stay close to your child, bring your own bike and ride behind them.
If you follow the steps above, you should be able to see some major improvements soon. If you run into troubles, please comment below so we can help you trouble shoot!<