When our children were little, it took several days to teach them how to balance and ride their two wheel bikes after we took off the training wheels. It was not easy and it was a good thing Art and I were in good shape.
We tied a halter strap that I sewed around their arm pits and held on to them over their backs.
Then we ran alongside them so they wouldn't fall while relaxing the strap so they could feel the balance.
It worked very well and the neighbors eventually borrowed our strap to teach their children.
We were therefore a little dubious when our daughter, Tiffany suggested we get KC this European balance bike (here's the link) for her Christmas present.
Someday I suppose KC will find out that the reason she got such great gifts from us is because her mother was always commissioned to get them for us so we wouldn't have to pay the horrible Hawaii to mainland postage fees.
Tif sent us a video this summer of KC on her two wheeler. Astoundingly, she was able to ride her bike by herself after two passes down the street with her dad running alongside. I was flabbergasted! The Europeans are really on to something here!
We tied a halter strap that I sewed around their arm pits and held on to them over their backs.
Then we ran alongside them so they wouldn't fall while relaxing the strap so they could feel the balance.
It worked very well and the neighbors eventually borrowed our strap to teach their children.
We were therefore a little dubious when our daughter, Tiffany suggested we get KC this European balance bike (here's the link) for her Christmas present.
Someday I suppose KC will find out that the reason she got such great gifts from us is because her mother was always commissioned to get them for us so we wouldn't have to pay the horrible Hawaii to mainland postage fees.
Tif sent us a video this summer of KC on her two wheeler. Astoundingly, she was able to ride her bike by herself after two passes down the street with her dad running alongside. I was flabbergasted! The Europeans are really on to something here!
Fun photos, old and new.
ReplyDeletewow, I'll go check out this new bike! Good for KC, maybe she is just really coordinated too.
ReplyDeleteI read that these new bikes without training wheels (where they can touch the ground) give them the chance to feel the balance better. Love these pictures! :-)
ReplyDeleteCute pictures.....My youngest grandson has one of those balance bikes and all the kids like to use it.
ReplyDeleteThat's amazing. I didn't know there was such a thing.
ReplyDeleteHow nice! That brings back memories. At my age, I probably will never again ride a bike due to lack of coordination that resulted in nasty falls. Nuff said. Lol.
ReplyDeleteREADING:
ReplyDeleteRIDING A BICYCLE:
For the life of me, I can't remember learning either skill. But I most certainly did, as my childhood would have been blighted without them. I do seem to remember that if you coasted down a slight incline so no pedaling was necessary, you could keep your balance more easily. Then, when it was necessary to pedal you already were balanced.
I was an ace cyclist on the Mainland. I had a 10-speed Raleigh that I loved. In Ohio there was enough countryside to make 25-35 mile trips feasible and enjoyable. Once a 10-speed gets going, you just move right along without tiring yourself out. That first gear that is way too hard to pump when you're going slow becomes almost effortless when you're up to speed. You just cruise right along and it's so enjoyable. But when I moved to Honolulu in 1978, I quit cycling cold turkey. The traffic was far too dense for my taste, and I immediately figured cycling was a good way to get killed.
progress, I remember how disappointed I was with my first son when we got him a two wheeler for christmas and he was NOT excited and fearful of learning to ride it...lol!
ReplyDeleteI saw parents on TV pushing one child in a stroller with a three or four year old toddler coming along with a similar "scooter", for lack of a better word in my brain. Britain. I thought How Useless. Now I see it's fairly brilliant.
ReplyDeleteTiffany and Jon look so cute and KC is always a sweetheart..love the photographs Kay..
ReplyDeleteOh your children and grand daughter are all incredibly cute (and I bet your kids still are). Things change alright, balance bike - have to remember that one for when I eventually become a grandmother (hopefully).
ReplyDeleteI remember training wheels for me, and running behind my son a bit when he learned to ride a bike. I've got a TRIKKE now, but need more flat space to practice. (Okay, Kansas IS flat, but I need a big empty paved lot to gain more skill.) Check out their website. Maybe Art could do TRIKKE instead of the marathon running. DrumMajor
ReplyDeleteRiding the bike is so much fun for kids..
ReplyDeleteI got this info a bit too late for Irene, but those bikes are very cool.
ReplyDeleteJill always has "suggestions" for what we should buy the kids for gifts too. When they were in Colorado everything had to be shipped. We usually ordered on line.
Good info and thanks!
ReplyDeleteL from W
They didn't have such fancy bikes when my sons were learning to ride. My older son was pretty miffed when my younger son, who had a superb sense of balance, learned to balance on his two wheeler first. But it did give him the motivation he needed to get going!
ReplyDeleteHello Kay,
ReplyDeleteYou have written about a subject which all of us participated in our lives. At that time children were small and depended on us. The excitement and laughter and fun was wonderful.When the children could finally ride the bike we could feel sense of achievement and great satisfaction. But as all good things this stage also passed and suddenly children are big and they could take decisions on their own. A time comes when they some times tell us that we don't know anything. This is life. You brought back wonderful memories. Lovely photos.
Best wishes,
Joseph