Any tips on teaching a child to ride a bike w/o training wheels

[marshallandcartersmo]

some great tips!! to the PP who mentioned the beach....we are going to the beach in about 2 months and all the cousins will be there (without training wheels) so hopefully if he doesn't have it down pat by then the sand will help!

 

[golfgal]

We took the training wheels off, used a large beach towel wrapped around their waist so we could slow down any falls but it doesn't interfere with their balance any, one trip up and down the street and they had it figured out. DS 17 was 5 when we started, DD14 was 3 1/2 and all the other kids were riding without training wheels so off she went and once DS14 saw her do that, he wanted to as well so off he went.

 

[mickeyboat]

DDs were 4 and 5 when they learned. It was a lot of running along side of them and reminding them to pedal. Good luck!

 

[MouseketeerOvaHere]

Try the removing the pedals technique. While at a bicycle shop in Ohio, I ease dropped on a couple asking about this beginner bicycle the store was selling. I didn't even have any kids but he sold me on it. Apparently the balancing is the thing to master first. Here is a link to the bike/shop of your interested. http://roll-online.com/itemdetails.cfm?ID=849

On a side note, you all are much more gentle than my father was. He kinda just put me on it held the seat till we got to the hill, then let go. I only fell once. He must know something I don't. He also taught me how to swim by just throwing me in the pool and shouting "paddle, paddle".

 

[Becky2005]

My youngest learned at a playground....he just took off! My oldest...he's almost 15 and still refuses to ride a bike. Believe me, we've tried. He has a beautiful bike, never ridden, in our shed.

Someone told me to take them to a baseball field and let them ride around the bases. If you have one near you that isn't "policed", you might want to give it a try!

Whew!! I'm glad I'm not the only one with an older non bike riding kid. My 13 year can't ride nor my 9 year old -- we don't have a good area to teach them either. However, both of those ones have motor skill issues. I had one person tell me she could have my kid riding in 1/2 hour -- I told her to go for it. We went over there and nope, he STILL wasn't riding in 1/2 hour -- after about 2 hours, we gave up and figured it was time to stop.

At this point, I'm not sure he even cares if he learns to ride.

I'm glad the video was shared!!! I might have to try that method if he wants to & I can find a nice sloping grassy area.