How to Teach Your Child to Ride a Bike

School-aged kids learn to ride two-wheeled bikes at vastly different stages in their development. Some can ride on two wheels as early as two years of age, when others will be well into second or third grade before it happens for them.

Parents can be overprotective when teaching kids to ride, and often impede their progress by fighting the “Balance Battle” with their young riders. Much like a first time passenger on a motorcycle, who resists leaning into the turns with the driver, the assisting parent will tend to fight the child’s lean, while holding onto his seat from the rear as he takes off. Learn helpful strategies in teaching your child to ride a bike and save your back some unnecessary stress!

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

1. Assuming she is right footed, have your child set her pedals so that her right pedal is all the way down, and the left is all the way up. Reverse this for left footers. Have her test her pedal settings by rocking the right pedal back and forth with her right foot.
   
   On a coaster brake bike, she will get resistance when she rocks the pedal backward. Tell her this is normal, but it will stop her if she does it when the bike is moving. Many kids get frustrated when their pedal momentum reverses, and they come to a quick, screeching halt.

2. Have your child set the pedals so that they are horizontal. Tell him that pedals get tired when they have to stand up and work all the time, so lay them down to rest. Assuming he is right footed, have him roll the pedals forward until the right pedal is as far forward as it can get. Have him put his right foot on the right pedal, or left on left if left footed. If the right pedal is in proper position, he should feel a bit of movement in the pedal before it engages the gears, but it will not move far as he remains at a standstill. Give him a bit of encouragement as he does this.

3. With the pedals in “Rest” position, tell your child that you want her to step on the right (forward) pedal (left pedal for left footers) and coast a few feet. All it takes is to step down on the pedal, pick the other foot off the ground and roll. The beauty here is that her speed is controlled, she can increase it as her comfort level rises, and she never has to address the separate issue of braking to stop. Let her do this a few times to get her balance as the bike moves.

4. Now give him permission to "Step and roll". with his left foot on the ground and his right foot on the right pedal (rotated full forward), have him stand on the right pedal and begin to ride. Encourage him to keep his momentum on the pedals by stepping down on the left pedal as it rotates to full forward position. You should find that his initial momentum will carry him well enough to continue pedaling after just a few tries.

Tips & Warnings

• Some kids take a long time getting the concept of moving balance. It might help them to have a short, gently sloped, grassy hill to start on. Gravity will help their balance, and the grass will cushion falls.
• Always wear approved safety gear, especially helmets when riding a bicycle.

[soccermom123]

on 8/21/2008 I think this article makes great points, but have you considered teaching your children to ride bicycles on a balance bicycle like a Toot Scoot or something? The Toot Scoot was great for my son because he learned balance first without worrying about pedaling. Balancing is obviously the biggest component in learning to ride a bike, and the pedals will just fall into place once they master the balancing act.