Bike riding is a fun exercise activity both for kids and adults. Most bike cyclers reports boosted most and happiness from riding a bike. A parent may want to introduce the bike to their kids as long as they can stand on their feet. However, some kids may even want to ride the bike earlier, depending on their motivation. When is the right time to introduce the kid to bikes? It is common among parents and guardians.
Before learning that a kid can learn how to ride, it is essential to know the benefits of riding a bicycle. Research studies have shown the tremendous health benefits of riding bikes in children and adults. However, bike riding appears to benefit the kid anatomy and mental development much more than it does to adults. The following are some of the benefits of riding bikes for kids.
Improves The Kid’s Attention
If you are a bike enthusiast, you can attest that bike riding requires much attention. The balancing of the forces applied on both hands to create an equilibrium and balance require much attention. You involve cognitive functions of the brain to coordinate the pedalling and the balancing of the bike and therefore improve your attention skills. Studies have shown that keeping attention is a skill that can be learned through a bike. Bike riding is recommended for children who have ADHD to improve their attention and cognitive functions.
Improves The Performance Of The Brain
As mentioned, bike riding involves the brain much to coordinate the pedalling and steering functions. Therefore, the involved brain is powered to remain alert and functional, thus improving performance. For a bike to balance and ride without challenges, the forces applied by both hands must balance and create a state of equilibrium.
It Helps The Body To Cut Excess Weight
Like any other outdoor exercise activity, bike riding can burn up to 1000 calories. The pedalling and coordination require energy and, therefore, can burn fat to provide the necessary power to do the work. It is, therefore, a fun-filled method of exercise, making the body remain fit and cutting the excess weight in the body. Bike riding is recommended for obese and overweight children. When consistently done, it can prove results in a short while.
Reduces The Risk For Diseases
Bike riding can help the body remain fit and healthy by improving the performance of the most critical body organs. The activity can reduce chances for arthritis, heart diseases, among others.
Having reviewed the benefits of bike riding to your kid, let us explore the big question with nay parents. The answer to the appropriate age for a kid to learn a bike is “It depends”. It depends for sure as different factors influence the ability to learn to ride a bike in children.
Ideally, a child should learn how to ride a bike after 18 months after birth. At this age, the child should be learning how to stand correctly. However, they may have learnt how to stand by themselves. Now depending on the energy and motivation of the child, they should be able to learn how to ride a bike after they can effectively stand by themselves.
The health fitness of the kid is essential to the determination of the age at which the kid can learn how to ride a bike. A healthy kid is empowered and energized to try skills and learn the process. Energy is key to motivation and the self-drive for the learning process.
Nonetheless, studies have shown that the age of 3 to 8 is the perfect age for kids to learn how to ride a bike effectively. Nonetheless, there are reports of kids learning how to ride the bike earlier than that and later than that. As said here, the answer to the age is it depends.
Naturally, some kids are slow learners due to genetic combinations and may not ride the bike after a single training session. Such kids may require continuous training and resilience of the trainer to keep up with the slow learning speed of the kid.
However, some kids can learn how to balance and ride the bike in 45 minutes. It amazes how some kids can learn how to balance in five minutes, and others can even teach themselves how to ride a bike by themselves. Nonetheless, on such occasions, motivation and energy are essential.
Some kids May have learnt to ride the kid much earlier but are delayed by their height and growth rate. Some kids may have three years of age but fail to learn how to ride a bike because the size of the bike may appear intimidating to them. The choice of the size of the bicycle given for riding is also a key determinant of how early or late a kid can learn to ride the gadget.
Therefore, there appears to be no specific answer to the age at which kids learn to ride bikes. However, with good nutrition, health and fitness together with inspiration, kids can learn how to lean the bike at a very young age as long as they can stand.
Exposing the kid to bike riding movies and kids Tv series can motivate them to ride. Buying them bike toys can also instil the need to learn the skill in the kid. Wanting-to-learn in an inner self-motivation force of the kid that enables them to learn the bike faster. When they want to ride the bike, they can learn the skills at an early age. However, if the kid is disinterested in the training and learning, then even with the right age, they can still delay in riding the bikes. The type of trainer and the training method can also inspire or put off the kid learning how to ride a bike. Nonetheless, studies still retain the age of 3 and 8 as the most appropriate for kids to learn how to ride bikes.