Tuesday, August 5, 2014

What Are Training Wheels?

Never heard of them!


Not even 4 years old yet!!

The boys pedal bikes were delivered last week and Phil quickly put them together for the boys. We decided to forgo the training wheels in hopes that the boys wouldn't need them. Sadly one of the bikes had a bent fork and we couldn't get the tire on it. We returned the bad bike and ordered another one. Caleb was first up and learned to ride it within a matter of minutes, on his third try and away he went. Eli tried next but was a little shaky, I think it discouraged him so he didn't want to keep trying. The next day he got it just as well as Caleb. Thomas tried it twice and didn't want to ride anymore. We didn't push him to keep trying since there were only two bikes and his brothers were hogging them. When the other bike came a week later Thomas got the hang of it ok. He's real shaky but with more practice he'll smooth out. Our biggest challenge is getting them to start up the bikes themselves, right now they need a push. We got them the smallest bikes available (12" wheels) and even with the seats all the way to the bottom they can barely reach with their tippy toes. Eli and Caleb have gotten their bikes going themselves a handful of times so hopefully practice makes perfect : )

What's the secret you ask? Balance Bikes!! The boys started riding them around when they were 19 mo old and have been riding them ever since. The great thing about these bikes is that kids learn the hard part first, balancing. These types of bikes are very popular in Portland and it's rare to find a kid that doesn't or hasn't owned one. Whenever we visited California we always got strange stares of admiration after seeing the boys zip around in them. Many would tell us "wow those are so cool." So many people have never even seen these before but I highly recommend them. They are such a great gross motor activity and you won't need to stress over teaching your kids to ride their pedal bikes in the future! It's a seamless transition : )

The boys "helping" dad assemble the bikes!
Eli
Oregon licence plates, so cute!
Tippy Toes
Mr T

1 comment:

Jonalyn said...

Wow! I so wish we had flat streets here! No neighborhood riding for us ... too hilly. Molly used to go back & forth on our porch with her balance bike. :)

I love watching your little guys on their bikes!