How we quickly taught our 4-year-old to ride a bike
Some helpful tips and tricks
Our 4 year old has always preferred her scooter - or more realistically, stroller- whenever we were out and about, but she was still able to learn how to ride a 2-wheeler surprisingly quickly. This is how we did it!
Wait until they’re appropriately mature
This one was key for us. Although intuitive for some kids, we’ve her her try the balance bike at various time points in the past and she struggled to really understand the concept.
Master the balance bike first
Now that she understands how to use and control her body, she was able to master the balance bike fairly quickly (after 2x or so). There was a noticeable difference between this time vs previous attempts. We never used training wheels.
This will save your back and actually works! For when they’ve mastered balancing and are ready to venture out on their first rides with pedals.
Goal setting can be helpful
This is a know-your-kid type of thing, but our daughter is very goal-oriented. She thrives when she understands the expectation - even if they’re difficult to achieve- and will persevere to get there. In this case she knew the goal was to successfully pedal on the bike, but she had an additional motivator: be able to carry her favorite stuffies on the back rack attached to her bike. We said she could bring her stuffed animals along once she had mastered bike riding. This motivated her to practice laps over and over until she could ride confidently. I loved seeing her literally beam with pride and satisfaction when her hard work had paid off and she earned the ride-along stuffie.
And some auxiliary info…
We purchased the Woom bike second hand and have been happy with it, but I know there are lots of great bike brands out there.
A bike bell is super useful once they master riding and are out on crowded sidewalks. I was debating between the two bells Woom offers (Bing vs Vienna) and could not figure out the differences. This was customer service’s response when I reached out: The Vienna bell tends to be a little louder. It is made from brass and has a very nice sound to it. This is my favorite bell that Woom makes. The bing bell is all black. It still rings true but is not quite as loud and has a little more plastic on the design. It tends to break down sooner than the Vienna bell. Alright, Vienna it is! And PSA: they offered a Black Friday special so keep an eye out for future promotions.
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