Look Mom and Dad, No Training Wheels!
- Teaching Kids to Love Riding Their Bikes -
Roger Rintala, Natural Riders
One of the most memorable parts of childhood is learning to ride a bike. This can be a wonderful, natural experience that empowers children and creates an opportunity to share a great activity with family and friends. As parents, we want our kids to enjoy riding, ride with confidence and safety, and have a desire to ride. This article describes a way of safely introducing riding to even very young children in a manner that is empowering, family friendly, and encourages their natural skill development.
Kids have great balance and are good at developing it. Dynamic balance is often new for 2-3 year olds but develops naturally with practice. As a father and a coach, I have taken to watching kids learning to ride and searched for an answer that made sense from the standpoint of finding an easy, natural, enjoyable and safe method that supports the development of essential riding skills. The first thing I wanted to do was to eliminate training wheels from the experience. This was because training wheels interrupt the natural learning and development by teaching children not to balance, to anchor their feet to the pedals, and are prone to tip-over accidents, especially when turning and braking.
The sensible alternative is the walking bike or pre-bike. Built like a small, regular bike that lacks pedals, these are riding toys that the child sits on just like a regular bike but walks with their feet. The beauty is what happens after the child starts to walk with the bike. Within days children start to explore the natural roll of the wheels by making longer strides. Strides turn to push and glide actions which give way to riding increasing distances between pushes or ground touches. The entire time the child is on the bike, they are learning to steer, lean, balance, and put their feet to the ground to stop. The rate of development can be amazing and the child is empowered to explore at their own pace. With immediate access to the ground with their feet, they naturally learn to control speed, balance and steer, their progression is natural and intuitive.
Vision is key to balance and awareness. Riders should look ahead, never down at the handlebars or wheel. When looking down our balance is poor. If they look where they are going, their balance will be solid and they will be able to respond to obstacles, other riders, or changes in terrain.
Turning skills develop naturally with a walking bike steering, leaning, and balance all come together to execute a turn.
Braking with a walking bike is natural, just use your feet. Moreover, they put their foot down whenever they feel the need to.
Ride with your children and make riding a part of what and how they experience other things. When you ride with your child, you inspire them and create opportunities to teach them to be safe and aware when riding. The bike opens doors. As your child learns to ride, explore new ways of doing things with them. Go to the store, to a new park, visit a friend, whatever. Make the bike ride a way of accomplishing another goal or task. Make it a shared adventure!
