OT ... teaching dd to ride a bike

[KerriMc]

Hey ... wanted to know if anyone had any good tips for getting my dd (7 yrs) to ride her two wheeler. She is soooo nervous on it even when I am killing myself to run/walk along with her. She just can't get that balance down pat. She doesn't want me to let go at all. She got hit in the leg with the pedal a couple of weeks ago and it left a huge bruise. Couldn't believe the size of it! She is a big girl and it looks so silly when she rides her too small bike with the training wheels. Her little sister is riding that bike now.

Tips? Suggestions? How do you teach a child to ride a bike? Especially one who isn't very confident at times. She plays hockey, dances, plays piano ... lots of confidence ... but not at this. What do I do to help her?? How old were your kids when they started riding two wheelers??

Thanks ....
Kerri

 

[disneyvacationmom]

We took both of our kids to the park and let them learn on the grass--they seemed way less nervous of falling on grass than on pavement--it worked for both of them. Good luck!

 

[briarberry]

My DD was exactly the same way! She is and was very coordinated in everything except when it came time to ride her bike. I tried everything. What finally worked for us was for me to get a bike and ride with her. She seemed motivated by the fact that I would go bike riding with her. We rode around a parking lot near our house to build up her confidence then we rode around the neighbourhood.
Good luck and don't worry about it too much, she will eventually just do it!

 

[SandraC]

My dd14 was hard to teach, so when she was 9 we asked a friend of hers to help. She learned to ride in 10 minutes. A little peer pressure helped a lot!

dd8 is now learning. We are having the same issues, so it's time to commisson his buddies to help. heeheehee

 

[tricia]

My boys were both big chickens when it came to this also. What I did with the younger one last year is slowly bent the training wheels up so that they were not touching the ground as much. He slowly learned how to keep his balance in the middle because it was getting very leany to let a training wheel touch the ground. Once he realized that he was riding without ever letting them hit the ground he was good to try a couple of runs without them.

 

[BCDisneyFanatic]

We used a small, grassy hill with a gentle slope at our local park...

The hill provides just enough momentum that they will keep going even if they forget to pedal; the grass, as other have said, is a little less intimidating than pavement.

Once they got their balance there, we moved to our high school's track. It's covered in that spongey rubber stuff, which again is less intimidating than pavement, and is very smooth. Both girls were riding confidently within an afternoon.

 

[MECH8T7]

We have used a training vest from Wallaby Kids.

http://www.wallabykids.com

It worked well for our son and our daughter (7) is almost there. The parent basically walks / jogs beside the bike with a hand on the handle on the back of the vest. The main thing about this vest is that, unlike trying to hold the seat or the handlebar, they get the feeling of trying to balance on the bike on their own...the vest only comes into play if they start to lose their balance, in which case the parent will be able to keep the child from falling by repositioning him/her over the bike by using the handle on the back of the vest. The only downside is that, once they get some speed going on the bike, the parent is going to have to be able keep up. One nice thing is that once they get their confidence up, you can let go of the handle and they won't even know and will be suprised (and pleased) to learn that they've ridden quite a distance without you "holding" to them.

 

[Ham Ham]

 

[cslittle999]

We used a SteadyStick. Conceptually similar to the WallabyKids vest but it is a bar that attaches to the bike. With it being attached to the bike you can also control the speed. Works great on tricycles if you have to push them.

 

[photomama]

Do her feet touch the ground? We had the same problem with my 6 yr old, she so wanted to ride without training wheel but was too scared and wobbly. It was because her 2 wheeler was a larger one and she needed a lower profile bike.

Good Luck.

 

[KerriMc]

Yes, her feet touch the ground. I just bought her this bike at the beginning of the summer. She already needs the seat raised I think as she looks so big on it!!! How do they grow sooo fast???? I bought the 18" bike because the 20" was too big ... now I am thinking maybe the 20 would have been fine!

We are still working ... she has come up with many excuses not to head out ... going to keep working on it though

Thanks for all of your tips

Kerri

 

[Aliceacc]

I taught 2 kids this spring: my 5 year old daughter and the best friend of my 8 year old daughter.

The trick is to KEEP PEDALING!!! THe kids tend to stop pedaling, or to slow down, and that makes them fall.

Also, try for a day that's cool enough for capris. Fewer skinned knees means a braver rider.

And remind her: she can always put her feet down. So this isn't scary at all, since she can always stop by putting her feet down.

 

[buffalogirl]

We struggled to teach both of our children to ride their bikes. Tried all kinds of gadgets, different places- grassy park/empty flat parking lot, had different people try to teach them, nothing was working. Then I read about a Bike Riding Clinic at a Bicycle museum near my house and thought we'd give it a try. It worked!!!!

The method they used was:

Remove the pedals (and training wheels) and let the kids coast down a small hill, so they learn to balance and steer without having to pedal. The first couple of times down the hill they will probably need to put their feet on the ground a few times and then they will gradually go longer periods of time balancing with their feet lifted. Once they make it down the hill a few times without putting their feet down, they have learned to balance and steer. Put the pedals back on and away they go!!!

At the clinic we saw riders of all ages (childen as young as 3 and even a few adults) master bike riding within a couple hours.

Good luck!!!

 

[Mrs. M. Mouse]

I don't have an answer for you but wanted you to know you're not alone. I have a 7 year old that can't balance on the 2 wheel and looks funny on her bike with the training wheels cause it's too small for her... I will be watching this thread too and trying some of the ideas they come up with!