Some tips on teaching your child to cycle

Learning to ride a bike is one of the landmark achievements in any child’s life, not only is it the sense of mastering a new skill and the confidence it brings, but also it’s their first taste of independence.

Two wheels or three

There is no right way or wrong way to learn to cycle. Most of us will remember our first tricycle or bike with stabilisers and, undoubtedly, they offer the greatest stability and allow children to get the hang of the pedalling without having to worry about toppling over. But they are cumbersome and awkward to manoeuvre, for the child and the adult.

Given balance is actually the main part of cycling – the pushing round of the pedals is simply a way of propelling oneself – some argue that tricycles and stabilisers delay a child’s two wheeled progress. This is where balance bikes come into their own, encouraging the child to develop a sense of balance and feel for what happens if they lean from one side or the other. They don’t generally have brakes as the feet do the stopping (be warned, shoes may not last long!)

Some consider that children who start off on balance bikes go straight to a two wheeled pedal bike more readily, because they are much less likely to fall, having already developed a sense of balance. Children are often naturally inclined to run along with the bike and some persuasion may be needed to get them to sit on it – it may be easier to focus on getting their feet off the ground rather than their bottom on the seat. Encourage them to scoot along, using their feet, taking larger and larger strides so they need to balance for longer between each stride.

Although specific balance bikes are available, it is just as effective to take the pedals off an ordinary bike. You just need to make sure the bike is small enough that they can comfortably straddle the bike with both feet flat on the ground, so they can scoot along without feeling out of control, and then simply take off the pedals. The added benefit of this is that when they have got their balance, you can just put the pedals back on to take them to the next stage.

Whichever method they’ve started with, most children will be ready to try a two wheeled, pedal bike by about five – which is normally when the back-breaking work starts for the parent running alongside, trying to steer! Steering through their shoulders does avoid some of the pain and gives the child a greater sense of freedom, while still knowing you’re there for emergencies.

If you have gone down the stabilisers route, the transition between to two wheels will take a little time, maybe a few weeks, but they’ll soon be off. Don’t rely on stabilisers for too long though – children who do tend to find it harder to get the hang of having just two wheels.

Having started, now you need to stop!

Introduce the idea of braking at the same time as they’re learning the pedalling bit. You don’t need to focus on it too much, as you’ll undoubtedly be around for the first rides to stop them careering into something, but at least get them to understand that pressing the brakes means they can stop before an obstacle. This is why it’s best to start them off in a large, open area so there are fewer things to crash into. Although it might be tempting to start on grass, thinking it will cushion any falls, tarmac is much easier to ride on.

When they’ve built their confidence and can balance and pedal, it’s time to focus on braking – explaining the need to use both brakes at the same time, to avoid going over the handlebars or skidding, and to brake gradually. Now is also the time to encourage them to look around, especially in front – rather than at you – and to understand when they need to break or change direction to avoid things.

The most important thing to remember is that all children are different and will vary in their two wheeled ambitions. Some will want to learn earlier than others – and that is the key, the child has to want to learn and it should be fun. Seeing a friend or sibling riding around, enjoying newfound freedom is often a good incentive but three or fours years seems to be about the average for the first cycling adventures.

Similarly, there are many different approaches to learning to cycling but whatever the method, there will inevitably be a few crashes, bumps and grazes along the way and then, bingo, that Eureka moment will happen and they will never forget how to ride a bike.