Both girls have reached riding milestones recently – the little one’s legs have grown long enough to reach the pedals on the tricycle, so she’s starting to pedal, and the big girl is riding a bike to school with the help of trainer wheels. Since riding bikes is such a part of kid culture, I thought I’d try to think of some of the things they get out of them other than exercise, fun and getting from A to B.
- Persistence
- Balance
- Planning ahead
- Trial and error
- Problem solving
- Co-ordination
- Confidence
- Initiative
- Risk taking
- Self regulation
- Multi-tasking
- Independence
- Awareness of others
- Resiliance
- Memory
I’m sure there are others. Can you help add to the list? And do your kids ride bikes? This post is part of the We Play linkup at Childhood 101.
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{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
I know a young Princess who is getting a bike for her birthday in short weeks. I know she will be very excited as most of her riding experiences have been at childcare or play centres.
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Persistence has been a big one in our house when it comes to bike riding. I have found it so exciting to watch my sons learning to ride.
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Risk-taking is an important one. We haven’t really got to the bike-riding stage yet, but I know my kids are the more cautious type. I imagine that will be a big challenge for us with bike-riding. As soon as the first fall happens, I can see my daughter in particular deciding she won’t be doing that again!
It’s Mummy who doesn’t want to take the risk here! The big girl could probably lose the trainer wheels, but I don’t want to take them off and have her fall.
You have listed the values and skills needed/gained in learning riding a bike. I am excited to see my daughter learning this stuff . I should be also ready for some bruises that she will have.
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my toddler is just making the move from ride on vehicles to bike….he still rides “flinstone” style but is slowly experimenting with the pedals… i love the sense of confidence children get when they first master a bike
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Our little one has been dying to use the pedals but couldn’t reach them properly. She’s so excited to be able to do it herself.
My Brother In Law is a real bike riding enthusiast. He got all 16 of his nieces and nephews wooden balance bikes for christmas a few years back. They have been such a wonderful gift, my girls got hours of pleasure out of their balance bikes.
We have promised the girls new bikes as a moving house gift, big bikes with pedals that they can ride to school
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I’ve been thinking of a balance bike for the little one. It’s been interesting to see the big girl transitioning from trike to bike and see that it’s quite a different skill. She expects to be able to sit on the seat and pedal. Riding is fine, the trainer wheels are off the ground, but she won’t learn taking off properly until we take the trainer wheels off. The balance bikes might teach them that skill.
We really need to get Immy a tricycle, not that we have a lot of flat space suitable for riding at home.
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I have two without training wheels now. The other two have very similar bikes to the ones in your pic. I even let my younger children ride them in the house sometimes.
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