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Learn how to ride a bike
Learning to ride a bike involves coordinating balance, motor skills and visual skills all at once. It can take time to practice the technique safely, but as each step is mastered, your child can gain a great sense of achievement. You will find lots of advice and links to helpful community resources below.
Explore the topics on this page:
Preparing to teach your child
It's important to follow general bicycle safety rules when teaching your child to ride a bike. For example:
- always practice in a quiet area
- ask your child to wear a helmet
- consider bike reflectors and bright clothing where appropriate
Take your time to practice and help your child reinforce their new skills. Make sure that your child has fully mastered each step before moving on to the next to help build their confidence.
Consider the weather when you begin teaching your child to ride. Good cycling weather can mean you practice more regularly, which can reduce how long it takes to learn.
Grass isn't an ideal surface to learn on as it is too soft and can mean your child has to push the pedals harder. Hard, smooth surfaces are better to begin with.
You will need:
- a bike
- a helmet
- a shifting spanner
Help your child practice
Get comfortable
Ask your child to sit on their bike and check they can sit comfortably with both feet flat on the ground. If necessary, lower the seat to achieve this.
Remove pedals
Begin by removing both pedals from the bike. This will allow your child to practice balance before learning other techniques.
Find a safe place to practice
Look for a safe, flat area of space that isn't too busy or distracting. Grassy areas are not helpful to start learning on, so a flat, hard surface like an empty basketball court or a quiet cul-de-sac is ideal.
Propel
Begin by asking your child to push themselves forward on their bike using walking movements with their feet.
Encourage them to keep their arms rigid and look where they are going, and as they begin to feel more confident, they can propel themselves forward with both feet at the same time and glide along.
Hills
Once your child feels confident, begin to practice gliding on a safe hill or slope in a park.
Practice braking
Encourage your child to practice stopping the bike by using the brakes and putting their feet on the ground at the same time.
Attach pedals
When your child can glide down the slope and stop safely, put the pedals back on the bike.
Practice on the slope again, but this time ask your child to keep their feet resting on the pedals.
Introduce pedalling action
Now you can introduce pedalling. If your child finds it difficult to move 1 foot and then the other, remove the pedals and ask them practice pushing themselves forward using 1 foot at a time.
Balanceability has a downloadable guide for parents to help your child with riding a bike.
