June 17, 2018December 11, 2024
by Jessica Whitney

We love to ride bikes together as a family. Every year my dad even rides the Registered Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa. Because our kids see us riding all the time, they of course want to ride with us. Are you considering buying a bike for a toddler, but can’t decide the best one? Or do you want to teach your kid to ride a bike stress-free? I wanted to share how to teach your kid to ride a bike the least stressful way possible!

When my son turned 5, he received an electric blue pedal bike with training wheels for his birthday. At first we thought we would leave the training wheels on, but we immediately noticed they were getting in the way of him riding. We took them off and within 10 minutes he was riding the bike by himself!

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How to teach a kid to ride a bike [in 30 minutes]

No, our son is not just a genius at riding bikes. Although maybe his grandparents might think so. Hehe. We built up to the 5th birthday epic moment through several stages and years of bike riding and mastering skills. But it only took him 10 minutes on the big bike.

The Skills of Bike Riding

In order for your son or daughter to master the technique of riding a bike, they will need to learn a few skills first. If they know how to do the below skills, they are ready for their own bike without training wheels!

Balance – the most critical skill that needs to be learned is how to balance while moving
Pedal – one of the steps for riding a bike is learning the idea of pedaling in a circle to get your bike to go forward and pedaling backwards for stopping
Stop – Slowing down enough to put your foot out to stop is the next critical step
Steer – Putting this all together and learning how to turn while pedaling, balancing, and knowing when to stop is the final step

I fully support the philosophy of trial by error and allowing your kids to push their boundaries in a safe way. In other words, let them fall safely!

This means providing the right equipment at the right age. Allowing your kid to progress through the different stages of bikes allows them to gain the necessary skills to ride a bike with the least amount of stress or chance of serious injury.

They are able to take risks in each of the stages to gain the skills they need to eventually ride a bike without training wheels.

So what’s the best bike to buy for your 2 year old son? Or your 4 year old granddaughter? How do you give them the confidence to ride without training wheels? How do you help them learn the skills they need to prepare them to ride a bike without training wheels once they are ready?

Here is what we recommend based on our experience!

The Stages of Bikes by Age

Stage 1: The Pedal Tricycle, Recommend Ages: 18 months – 3 years

My oldest son got one of these Pedal Tricycles when he turned 18 months for Christmas. On this trike, he learned how to pedal and the idea behind it. His favorite part was the bell for sure. We also loved the cup holder, trunk to carry toys to the park, and removable handle to push him when he got tired or up hill.

Stage 2: The Balance Bike, Recommend Ages 3 – 5 years

I first saw one of these bikes at the New Belgium Tour de Fat in Fort Collins. Every year tons of people from all over Fort Collins, CO dress up in costumes and parade around town on their bikes. Fort Collins is one of the most bike-friendly cities in the U. S. The parade ends at one of the parks sponsored by New Belgium brewery with activities, music, and festivities for kids.

When I saw the bike, I knew we had to get one for Little One when he was big enough. Thankfully, he got one for his birthday when he turned 3.

I’ll admit at first, he wasn’t a huge fan of riding the balance bike. But I think the biggest reason he disliked trying the balance bike is he just liked going so fast on his Radio Flyer Lean ‘N Glide Scooter (we found ours on sale on Amazon for $25). Like crazy fast. Like keeps up with me when I go running fast. (If you are looking for a good scooter, definitely don’t get the “Radio Flyer 1st Scooter” because it is hard to turn for little kids.)

Anyway, we didn’t force the bike riding too much the first year because a) we wanted him to enjoy bike riding and b) we lived in Colorado so the weather was cold 8 months out of the year.

By the time he was 4, he had practiced enough on the bike to feel comfortable to go on family walks with the bike. He had mastered the art of balancing by himself through trial and error on his balance bike.

Tip: When you buy the balance bike, definitely do your best your to get the right size bike for your little one. Most of the bikes have seats that go up and down, but make sure they can sit on the seat and their feet be able to touch the ground with their legs straight.

I found this video really helpful on how to teach a kid to ride a balance bike!

Stage 3: The Pedal Bike aka Big Kid Bike, Recommended Ages 5+ Years Old

As I mentioned, my son got a big boy bike for his 5th birthday. At first, we left the training wheels on because we didn’t want to push him too hard at first. But within several minutes we realized the training wheels were mostly getting in the way. He kept trying to lean to steer and then would lose confidence because the training wheels would make him wobbly. We realized we were going backward.

As soon as we took off the training wheels, zoom. He was off and pedaling! He used the balance skills he learned from his balance bike that he’d been riding for years.

The only thing we taught him was how to set up the pedals to get started. This took about 30 minutes. My husband did chase behind him the first few times just because we were still a little nervous. But he didn’t even look back!

So, what did we do with trike and balance bike that we had?

Our daughter is two years younger than our son. She tries to keep up with him and has already started practicing the skill of riding a balance bike at 3 years old. She won’t be far behind when it comes to riding a bike without training wheels! We look forward to many bike rides together as a family!