You may have noticed a number of the youngsters in your neighborhood riding on wooden bikes lately. No, we’re not taking a step backwards, we’re actually finally taking a step in the proper direction. These wooden bikes are referred to as either running bikes or balance bikes and they are designed to help your child have an easier transition to a real bike. These wooden bikes are also very durable and light weight making it that much easier for you kid to learn how to balance himself.
One of the first things you may notice is that wooden bikes haven’t any pedals. Learning how to pedal is a pretty basic skill that almost all kids will pick up within minutes. But the largest challenge is learning the way to balance themselves on a 2-wheeled bike. In the past we’ve given our children bicycles with training wheels to help them make this transition but those training wheels really defeat the purpose. Your kid learns to depend on those training wheels to keep him up rather than learning how to balance. And that is why so many kids are frightened and have a difficult time learning the way to ride a real bike.
