Growing up, we've never been exposed to the idea of a balance bike. My earliest memory of the act of cycling is the use of a tricycle, which I transition to a bicycle with training wheels and later have the training wheels removed when I knew how to balance on a bike. I believe it's what most of us have gone through growing up.
There's absolutely nothing wrong learning to cycle using the above method. But what if we were to tell you that there's an alternative worth exploring?
Balance bikes, also known as push bikes or run bikes are basically bikes without pedals that are designed for younger children. As soon as your child can walk and have decent motor skills, they can try and get on a balance bike. So, why is it a good alternative to get your child on one of this balance bike?
Benefits of a Balance Bike
Ease of Transition to a Pedal Bike
This is probably the most talked about benefit; transitioning to a pedal bike without using training wheels. Cool much? This is because they have mastered the skill of balancing and have are familiar with the whole motion of a bicycle, making the transition easier as they focus on learning how to pedal.
We've had friends with older kids who have testified to this benefit and it is true!
Develop Gross Motor Skills
Balance bike is a great tool to help a child develop their gross motor skills. This includes learning how to balance and knowing the essence of coordination of their entire body. But why is this important? For starters, balance bike helps the child to develop core muscle strength. On top of that, studies have shown that a child with good balancing and coordination skills helps with injury prevention, self regulation and the development of fine motor skills in the future.
Build Confidence
When your child is seated on a balance bike, both of their feet would be firmly on the ground. This allows them to feel grounded as they manoeuvre on the balance bike. As they learn how to push the bike forward, it helps to them build a sense of confidence and independence just being on the balance bike.
Just the idea of being able to ride a balance bike makes the child beam with pride, elevating their confidence level. I know that's for sure when my son could ride.
Safe
As parents, the safety of our children is always our number one priority. The cool thing about a balance bike is it can go on any surface; flat road surface, grass, uneven surface and it's safe for the child to be on the bike when manoeuvring on all these different surfaces. This is because both feet are properly grounded, enabling your child to confidently push the bike around uneven surfaces safely! Now that has got to be a plus point!
Exercise
It is definitely fun for a child to be on a balance bike. It's even more fun for us parents when our child gets enough exercise and have all their energy released for them to have a good night sleep, yea?
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So, what do you think? Are you convinced to give balance bike a go? Head over to our Kinderfeets page and check out the products that are available for your child, starting from as young as 12 months old!