A what age to buy the first bicycle for children is the question that every parent asks himself when faced with the spontaneous interest that their children, all more or less, show in respect of any means of transport. Inevitably, more or less from 18 monthsboys and girls are attracted to everything that allows them to move in a fun and fast way such as tricycles, pedal cars and of course bicycles.
But when is the right time to buy your first bicycle to your child? And what model of bike to buy for a child? Let’s try to understand it by analyzing the motor development stages of childrenwhich we have already covered here.
At what age the first bicycle for a child
As mentioned, children show interest and curiosity in everything that allows them to move and have fun starting more or less from 18 months. Many parents at this age think about give away a tricycle or pedal car to their own child, and just as many instead think of buy a bicycleundecided between the traditional models with pedals and the increasingly popular ones without pedals.
The important thing to consider when thinking about buying the first bicycle for a child is that the skill that has not yet been developed in preschool children, therefore up to the age of 5 or 6, and the most difficult to acquire, is that relating to equilibrium. Given this, there are two possibilities: the first is to follow thetraditional process from the tricycle to the bicycle with wheels thinking that the help of 3 or 4 support points on the ground facilitates the child’s learning; the second is that of immediately take the one without pedals as the first bike for a child and let him develop the sense of balance in the saddle in the form of a game.
When to get a bike for a child
I advantages of starting to ride a bike with a model without pedals we have explained them in depth here: basically a balance bike allows you to immediately acquire the correct posture and the correct habits to then ride a bike as adults, starting with the balance of body weight and the orientation of the shoulders, head and gaze, with respect to the direction of travel, even when cornering.
If this is true, then from the age of more or less 18 months, or in any case from when children demonstrate that they can walk independently with regular balance, they can be given a balance bike as a toy, paying attention to the fact that is the right size so that the child can put both feet on the ground and completely with the plant, and that there is no top tube that would make it difficult to get on and off or manage the bike in the event of falls.
These balance bikes
they are perfect for play while learning balance in the saddle going around the house or in the courtyards or on cycle paths and, since they often don’t include brakes to get children used to putting their feet on the ground, you need to pay attention especially when going downhill.
First children’s bicycle: which model from 3 years
From the age of 3 you can think of taking one traditional bicycle with pedals and, if the child has learned on those without pedals, skip the step of the wheels. To make it easier for the child to get used to a real bicycle, it is important that the size is such as to allow the feet to rest on the ground, even when adjusting the saddle, and perhaps in the early days the pedals can be removed, letting the child keep pushing with your feet on the ground and in the meantime learn to use the brakeswith the advantage of learning at the same time to put your feet on the ground when you stop.
At this point, since the age of 3 more or lessit will be easy, fast and intuitive to teach even a child to pedal and essentially to ride a bike independently.
Credits photo: CC Pixabay
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