Bikes for School Aged Kids
I’m helping my sister find a bike for her 8-year-old daughter. She wants a mountain bike. Unbeknownst to me, there’s a lot more to buying a bike than the price and the color. My advice to my sister so far has been “oooh! get a pretty one!” Not really helpful, huh? But luckily the internet has come through for me once again..
Big Kids Bikes:
Kids grow so if they are in a child seat or trailer it won’t be long until they outgrow it. At 2-4 years they can move on to their own appropriately sized tricycle. On a bicycle, kids can experience/learn the laws of inertia, pedaling, steering, braking and sitting on a saddle. Trikes don’t do much to develop a sense of balance and they can be tippy (excluding low-lying “big wheels”).
Most kids try a two-wheeler with training wheels around age 3 years.
Between the ages of 4 and 8 years most kids have developed sufficient physical coordination and agility, good balance and master starting and stopping on a tricycle or training wheels so that they are ready to learn to ride a bicycle. (Note: Kids generally lack the coordination and strength for hand brakes until at least 5.) But, along with physical skills it also takes mental readiness (self-confidence) and motivation to learn to bicycle. Some kids don’t develop this until they are 10 or more years old. It sometimes takes a lot of patience on the part of parents. Interest and readiness to learn to ride a bike can manifests itself as questions about bicycles, a desire to ride with friends, talk about tricycles and training wheels as things for “babies,” etc. (read more)
Shop for kids’ bikes at Smarter.com.
