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Cycling is the best activity for the children of all age group even toddlers. Parents should encourage them for riding a balance bike in order to develop the healthy activity of cycling in them. Balance bike is the starter bike for your toddler or preschool children. A Balance bike has no pedals. The rider pushes himself along the ground.
As it’s the starter that teaches children learning skills that make it possible for them cycling. They learn how to balance as well how to control steering. Although pedaling is also an important skill but first when they learn balancing then they can easily learn pedaling later but if a child starts with stabilizers then he take more time to learn balancing and get scared when stabilizers are get away. So balance bike is very important to incorporate the skill of balancing.
The balance bike should be light weighted so a child can easily handle as well as learn balancing in a proper way. It would be difficult for them if it will be heavy.
While steering hand grip must be secure to stop any kind of injury. The headset should have ball bearings enable handle bar turn easily and freely unlike plain bearings.
On a balance bike children can stop the bike with moderate speed but if it has smooth brakes then they can learn a skill of stopping bike smoothly with the help of brakes that they have to learn later. The brakes should not be too stiff and teach how to apply the moderate pressure.
The wheels should spin smoothly and freely for best ride again it is only possible with ball bearings. The saddle should be comfortable and a little bit concave to prevent your child from slipping forward. Adjust according to the height and comfort level of your child.
Beside all these things do not compromise on the safety of your child. Use bike safety accessories specially the bike vests for your toddlers to prevent any kind of injury.
Like other machines such as motor bike or car, your bicycle also needs some care and maintenance that make its life longer and gives you a smooth ride. Same is the case with children’s bicycle because it’s a fun factor for them. They learn bike harness, cycling and balancing from it.
Check the nuts on the wheel for quick release specially the back wheel because it should be tightly fitted.
Like back wheel check the nuts of front wheel too for smooth and secure running.
Spokes should also be tightly fitted and not to be loose.
Check the air pressure in each tyre because it’s very important for smooth ride. If there is not enough air pressure then attach your pump to the valve to pump up the tyre.
Oiling of chain is very necessary as well as it should be clean for smooth ride of the bike. Don’t use too much oil. Always use as per requirement.
Check your pedals, should be spin smoothly and don’t squeak while spinning.
Check saddle. Your seat post should not be loose. Tight the seat post clamp and then check it by take a ride.
Proper check of brakes is very important. Check your front and back brakes. Brake mechanism should move when brakes are being applied if not then there is a need of adjustment. This is possible by loosening brake cable anchor bolt. Check adjuster screws of the brakes as well. Then check front brakes by pushing the cycle forward and then applying brakes. Same is the case with rear brakes applying by pulling the cycle back.
Check stem bolts properly. Tighten them if required.
Check the frame of the bicycle in terms of any crack or damage and then fix them. Also check the area where frame connects to the head tube.
Check that there is any clicking in the headset. This can be checked by taking head tube on one hand and then applying front brake.
Cycling in a Safer Way!
Cycling is just freedom and adventure for the children. Children enjoy this activity a lot. Cycling is good for health and keeps them healthy and fit as well as develops the physical and mental skills needed to make safe decisions when they are on the road.
Beside all the enjoyment your child should know that it’s a mean of transportation that should be handled carefully. Child’s cycling activity should be encouraged because its beneficial health wise as well as it’s the demand of time due to environmental issues.
Tricycle is the first step in learning to ride a bicycle then the stabilizers in two wheeler’s help the children how to balance. The key to bike riding is balance and making it fun.
Now a day’s cycling trend is being reduced in children as well as adults. Cycling activity should be encouraged to minimize traffic pollution.
In terms of children walking and cycling to school parents are usually worried due to traffic danger. Try to teach all tactics of cycling to make them confident so they can gain a sense of freedom and independence, they’ll also improve their confidence and fitness.
Why You Should not Use Bike/Bicycle Stabilizers With Your Child’s First Bike?
Buying the very first bike for kid is a special moment in parent’s life that they always remember. For generations, people are buying bike with stabilizers to help children learn to ride their first bike. But, you might have listened to stories where bike with stabilizers made the learning of bicycle really difficult for kids. Undoubtedly, Bike/bicycle stabilizers do help the kids to understand motion of bike and how they can use bike. If you are thinking of buying bike stabilizers for your child’s first bike, then do read drawbacks of using training wheels before making any final decision.
It is a known fact that bike riding is all about balancing and pedaling. Stabilizers help kids learn the art of pedaling. Stabilizers provide support to kids when riding bike. A child gets the feeling of bike rider as soon as he begins riding bike with the support of stabilizers. But despite all this, the major problem with bike stabilizers is that they do not teach kids how to balance a bike. Everyone knows that the one of the most important parts of learning to ride a bike is balancing. Kids who do not learn balancing a bike, cannot ride it properly and safely.
It is a fact that kids easily and quickly learn to ride a bike having stabilizers. Once stabilizers are removed, kids lose the confidence stabilizers have given them, they are unable to balance the bike and as a result they fall from bike trying to balance it without stabilizers and get injured. The kid who once falls from the bicycle while learning to ride it after the removal of stabilizers often refuses to move to bike with no stabilizers. That is why; shifting kids from 4 wheeler bike (bike with stabilizers) to 2 wheeler bicycle often becomes difficult for parents.
Bike with stabilizers cannot be ridden on rocky paths. Bike with training wheels is best to ride on even, flat and smooth surfaces. If a kid rides a bike having stabilizers on a surface banked to one side, bike will lose its balance and will fall on the ground. It means stabilizers can limit kids’ bike riding adventure.
First, you have to spend money to buy first bike for your child then if you want to buy stabilizers too, you will have to take out more money from your pocket to buy bicycle stabilizers. That is why; some parents consider training wheels as additional burden on their pockets.
Training wheels reduce maneuverability of bicycle. While cornering, stabilizers act as hurdle in the natural lean of the bicycle. As training wheels vertically hold the bicycle, therefore it becomes difficult for bike rider to steer the bike easily.
Apart from these drawbacks, training wheels add more weight to the bike; they are also noisy and fragile.
How to Select a Right Size Bicycle for Your Kid?
Every parent wants to see his/her kid happy. That is why; parents try to buy everything that can bring smile on their kids’ faces. If your kid has reached the age at which he can learn to ride a bike then bicycle is one of the best gifts that you can buy for your child. Bicycle riding is a fun activity that offers immense pleasure and a sense of independence to kids.
It is to be noted that whenever you buy bicycle for your kid always choose the right size bicycle for your kid – the one that fits him well. If you buy a bike that is too small for your kid, he/she will feel cramped and discomfited. On the other hand, if you buy a bike that’s too big for your kid, he/she will not be able to control it well and might injured him/herself. Therefore, you should never buy a wrong size bicycle that makes your kid feel uncomfortable and unsafe.
Everyone knows that bicycles have different sizes. While, kids have different ages and height. There is not a single bike in the market that is fit for all sizes of kids. Then, how you can choose the right bicycle for your kid? For your help and guidance, we are presenting useful guidelines below so that you can buy a right size bicycle for your kid.
We love to give surprise gifts to our kids. But, when you go out to buy bicycle for your kid, it is good to take him/her to the bicycle shop so that he can try out bike there and buy the one that fits him/her well and is comfortable enough for him/her.
The reference point while choosing bicycle for kids is diameter of the wheel. Kids’ bicycles are sized in the light of diameter of wheels. Kids’ bicycles usually come with 12, 16, 20 and 24 inch diameter wheels. A bike with12 inch diameter wheel is considered perfect for kids aged 3 to 5 years. While, 16 inch wheeled bike is good for kids aged 4 to 7 years. Kids who are 5 to 10 years old will need a bike with 20 inch diameter wheels. Kids aged 8 to 14 years require a bike with 24 inch diameter wheels.
According to International Bicycle Fund, kids’ bike should be chosen by keeping in view child’s age and inseam measurement. Inseam is the length of the leg, from crotch to ankle. A kid aged 2 to 4 years having 14-17 inch inseams requires 12 inch diameter wheels. Kids aged 5 to 8 years with 18 to 22 inch inseams need 16 inch diameter wheels. While kids that have ages between 7 to 10 years having 22- 25 inseams require 20 inch diameter wheels. Kids who are 9 years old and older than 9 years having 24 to 28 inch inseams need 24 inch diameter wheels.
There is increasing number of cars used now days. Due to this, air pollution is increasing and there are a lot of climate change is being recorded which is not good for our environment. It’s time to rapidly increase environment friendly active travelling like cycling and walking and avoid other vehicles as much as possible to decrease carbon emission. It’s the time to make your environment safe, clean and green.
It is expected that in UK rise of carbon dioxide emission is 35% between 1990 and 2030. It’s actually an alarming condition so it’s very necessary to change our travelling habits to reduce the air pollutions in order to achieve the targets. This is the duty of every citizen otherwise air pollution will reach at alarming limits and will not be controllable.
According to demographics there is one car for every 2 person in UK so it’s the time to reduce the number of cars and other vehicle to make your roads safer to encourage active travelling means cycling and walking to reduce carbon emission and air pollution.
There are many problems and diseases rising due to air pollution like Asthma, wheezing etc. According to a study polluted air is very dangerous for lungs development of children and reduces the speed of development of lungs in children that ultimately cause cancer.
Active travelling is not only important to reduce air pollution but it also has health benefits that make you fit and active. The one more reason to adopt active travelling is to save your money as it is very economical and no expenditures of fuel. For long travelling try to use public transport as their average carbon dioxide emission is less than cars.
Let’s be together to make our environment clean, green and pollution free for our present and upcoming generation and try to adopt environment friendly behaviors in our daily activities.
There are some examples of outdoor play or entertainment such as Ball games in the local park, walk or cycle ride, Using a skate park, Exploring the beach e.g. swimming, fossil hunting, stone skimming. You can also entertain your children with different range of outdoor games such as throwing a ball into a bucket and varying the distance, sack races, Parachute games, Running around, Catching games, Kicking and throwing using a soft ball, Running and stopping and hitting a soft ball. Either it’s cycling or other type of activities parents should properly supervise the children and make sure they are having all safety accessories according to the activities.
Children who play regularly in natural environments show more advanced motor fitness, including coordination, balance and liveliness, and they are sick less often (Grahn, et al. 1997, Fjortoft & Sageie 2001).
When children play in natural environments, their play is more varied with creative activities that promote language and mutual skills (Moore & Wong 1997, Taylor, et al. 1998, Fjortoft 2000).
Exposure to natural environments improves children’s cognitive growth by improving their responsiveness, analysis and observational skills (Pyle 2002).
Nature helps children to expand powers of surveillance and imagination (Crain 2001).
Outdoor environments are important to children’s development of independence and self-sufficiency (Bartlett 1996).
Play in outdoor environments stimulates all aspects of children development more than indoor environments (Moore & Wong 1997).
Outdoors, a child learns on multiple levels with each new adventure (Burdette and Whitaker, 2005).
Parents should support their children for the outdoor games. Make sure that area where they are playing is clear from any hazardous debris or any other things that may harm your child. If you take your children to a park, stay close enough to keep an eye on them. These things give them confidence and make a good and strong personality.