Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Canadian Down Syndrome Awareness Week - Balance Bikes

We got K the cutest little pink Stryder balance bike for her birthday last year.



My girls are not big on riding bikes however, & K seems to be following in their footsteps.  She does ride her bike occasionally, but, like her sisters, is not real excited about it like some kids are.  She is learning though & I am convinced that this is a great way to get her started. 

One of my older daughters had training wheels on her bike for quite a while & rode tilted to the side.  If I had known about this type of bike then, I would have purchased one for her to avoid the bad habits she got into.  Training wheels do not help with balance &  this was my older daughter's biggest hurdle.

The other disadvantage my kids have is that we live in a rural area where they have to ride on uneven ground & gravel - this isn't the easiest way to learn, so, thanks to us bringing her tricycle in the house recently, K is the only one of my kids to learn to ride a trike. She is still learning, but has just about conquered it.  My plan is to let her practice on her trike this winter & concentrate on her Stryder bike again come spring.

.

2 comments:

  1. What is unique about the Stryder bike? Beth rode a two wheeler with training wheels until she just got too big. The training wheels broke but she never did master riding a two wheeler.

    Chuck and I have looked into adult bikes with two wheels in the bike (like a trike) but they run hundreds of dollars.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The main difference is that they don't have pedals, so the child learns to balance first before they worry about pedaling.

    The bikes I mentioned are for kids up to about age 5, but I have heard of people removing the pedal mechanism for older kids.

    The other option for older kids that I have heard great things about is the Lose The Training Wheels Organization.

    Here is a link:

    http://www.losethetrainingwheels.org/

    Hope that helps:)!

    ReplyDelete