Have you been considering if it is time to take the plunge and purchase your child’s first balance bike?
I am sure you have witnessed many families with little rider’s getting around almost everywhere, but despite the novelty of a new toy for your child, do balance bikes really provide those crucial, parent reassuring benefits for your little champ?
Well, if you’re after answers to that key question you have come to the right place. Let’s not ride around the block here, yes they do! To be truthful, the sheer number of positive benefits will astound you.
In this article we are going to begin a series of posts that focus on the benefits of balance bikes for toddlers. So, kick back, grab your favorite brew and enjoy the first article in our series on the wonderful, sometimes hidden benefits that a balance bike can contribute to your child’s development.
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Firstbike Street Balance Bike – A real winner!
Let’s Get Physical
Can you remember the last time you did some exercise such as ride a bike, an adventurous run, or a swim that caused your lungs (and maybe legs) to scream back at you, what do you think your doing? (this is the polite version).
Well, that is the same feeling your little one is beginning to experience in more gentle ways when they begin to ride a balance bike. That, what do you think your doing feeling is actually a by-product of the great health investments your child is beginning to make while being physically active. Here, the means just happens to be riding a bike. And we love it!
The physical benefits for your child are enormous.
No need to get too technical or extensive here, after all, as parents we simply wish to be reassured that our investments that we make for our little ones is going to not only be a wonderful outlet for our child’s growth and development, but something that will be super enjoyable, fun and hopefully sow the seeds for a lifetime of positive rewards.
In this article we will concentrate on providing an overview of the key benefits without going into the physiological detail.
By learning to ride/riding a balance bike your child will be developing these amazing skills and physical abilities.
Kinderfeets Balance Bike – Sustainable and Environmentally Friendly Fun!
Motor control and strength
I would argue for the truth of this statement: that unless you have tried to practice a particular skill, or even master one, you cannot really appreciate the wonderful skills that an individual has acquired through hours and hours of dedicated practice.
Balance bike riding is a unique skill.
Your child is primed and ready to develop endless physical skills from a multitude of fun, adventurous pursuits.
Each time your little one pops on a helmet and explores the playground, paths and trails close to home on their balance bike, their muscles are working so hard to complement one another, fine-tuning balance and movement (aka motor control) to produce what looks like a smooth polished result. That long graceful glide on their little toy.
As their muscles continue to dance in concert together, they gain greater skill acquisition or level of motor control. This means they will use less energy and concentration to ride their balance bike all while looking smoother and more professional!
As an added physical reward, their muscles are getting a generous workout.
The forces required to balance your body on a movable object, provide forward locomotion, brake, push over those big hills and rough terrain, and wave to your mum or dad all at the same time takes a fair skill set.
Relatedly, riding a bike is an endurance event. Your child is also beginning to develop muscular endurance, which is the ability to complete a physical activity for long periods of time without stopping. This is a key physical reward that is transferable to many activities, and leads us nicely into our next physical benefit, cardiovascular fitness.
Improving Cardiovascular Fitness
By riding a balance bike your little rider will gradually, yet subconsciously be developing a key physical benefit. Improving their cardiovascular fitness.
To put this in simple terms, they are giving their heart and lungs a nice little workout that will improve their heart and lungs health, strength, and capacity.
Essentially, this means their heart will become stronger, like any muscle after more exercise, and allow it to provide blood and oxygen to those little working muscles so they can continue to exercise for longer, without getting tired.
Balance Bikes – A natural wonder when it comes to bike development!
Practically, they will be able to ride faster and longer with less effort. Now that’s my kind of benefit! Up next, kineasthetic and coordination benefits.
Kinesthetic and Coordination Boost
Any learning that takes place through physical hand and body movement improves a child’s ability to physically process information via physical expression. This is known as kineasthetic learning.
Basically, this is what we call hands on learning. Learning by actively doing. This is learning through feeling, performance, and muscle & body movement.
Riding a balance bike is a perfect example of kinesthetic learning, an exercise supreme for the development of this wonderful skill that is transferable across an abundance of fun physical activities that kids enjoy.
A related benefit is coordination. People who practice and develop greater kinesthetic abilities also develop hand-eye coordination, dexterity and both fine and gross motor skills.
In a word, they develop the physical skills to coordinate movement. In regard to your little champ riding a balance bike, this means greater control, riding prowess and of course more fun as they master these balance bike skills.
Visual Spatial Benefits
Riding a balance bike is a superpower exercise that exposes your little one to multiple opportunities to develop this skill.
I’ll now pause, just for a moment before wrapping up our article, to provide you with some handy links to check-out some of our top balance bike recommendations that will nurture these wonderful benefits for your little rider.
- Strider 12 Sport Balance Bike (USA residents click here) and (AUS residents click here)
- Banana Bike GT (USA residents click here) and (AUS residents click here)
- Cruzee Ultralight Air Balance Bike (AUS residents click here)
- FirstBIKE Cross Balance Bike (USA residents click here) and (AUS residents click here)
- Chicco Ducati Scrambler (AUS residents click here)
- smarTrike 3-in-1 Xtend convertible Balance Bike (USA residents click here)
Overall Summary
As a parent we have access to some amazing opportunities to nurture our child’s physical development. A balance bike, and yes, I will readily admit my own subjective bias here, is a wonderful investment for your little one to benefit from all the above-mentioned physical rewards and more, today and well into the lifetime.
Riding a balance bike is fun. Despite the toy camouflage, the balance bike promotes extensive health and well-being benefits that we as parents (yes me included) can have peace of mind and affirmation that our decision to purchase a bike for our little champ was, is, and will continue to be a beautifully balanced investment for your child.
Today, you have just learnt all about the physical gifts your little rider is developing. Our next in our series will see us delve into the social benefits of riding a balance bike for toddlers.
If you have any questions, or comments that you wish to ask about this article please post these in the comment section below. We welcome your feedback and encourage you to reach out, we are here to help.
Ride happy, ride safe!
Thank you very much for this valuable detailed post about Benefits of Balance Bikes. I really remember the first time I rode a bike. That day I fell without balance. But I learned from it. I still love riding bikes. It is really good for our body. Thank you very much for this kind of post. Keep posting this kind of post. I will definitely share this.
When my wife was pregnant, we read a lot of blogs and articles about the best way to prepare my child for life. I read about the benefits of different types of strollers, the best way to introduce them to solid foods, and the importance of reading to them from a young age. But one thing I didn’t read about was balance bikes for toddlers when our child got to that age.
I didn’t realize the importance of balance bikes until my son was about two years old and started showing an interest in bikes. We went to a local bike shop and he picked out his own bike. I was amazed at how quickly he picked up on riding it.
Balance bikes are a great way for toddlers to learn how to ride a bike. They help teach toddlers how to balance themselves, which is an important skill for them to learn. They also help toddlers learn how to steer a bike and how to brake.
Thanks for this article.
It’s pretty interesting how beneficial a simple balance bike can be, thanks for the insight. I’ve actually been recently blessed with a wonderful son and am looking forward to teaching him how to ride a bicycle some day and after reading this it seems like balance bikes are somewhat like an all-around healthy prerequisite that can stimulate his motor skills until he’s big enough to some day go bike riding with his Pop 🙂
Although I have often seen young children riding bicycles or learning to ride bicycles, especially my friend’s little daughter, I have never thought about the advantages of this.
From this article I got a detailed picture of these benefits and I am very happy that we have such a long tradition of cycling here. Because, as the article revealed, this is a very healthy thing and it develops children very well.
I will continue to encourage my girlfriends to ride their bikes as much as possible.
That’s brilliant Emese. I’m so glad you enjoyed the information in our article and found this helpful. Yes, riding is a bike is such a wonderful activity in so many ways. Keep following and sharing as we continue to provide you more information about the fantastic benefits going for a ride on your bike offers. Enjoy!
Again, thank you for another great post! This is something that I worry a little about with my kids The thought that they will fall and get hurt on a balance bike scares me, but I know it is necessary for their development. Do you have any suggestions on how to overcome that fear?
Hi Jessie, thanks for your feedback and comments. I’m glad you enjoyed the articles and found these helpful for you. In regard to your question, if you are referring to your own fears, I would actually suggest that you actually spend the time with your child riding a bike alongside them. One method to overcome our fears is move out of our comfort zone and meet these fears head on, by gradually allowing ourselves to overcome these. Start really slow and carefully, just like with your child learning to ride. Also remember to provide lots of encouragement not only to your little one, but to yourself. Positive affirmation leads to positive thoughts and positive behavior.
All the best
Balance bikes are AWESOME!! My little guy absolutely loved his first one, and I plan to buy one for my new nephew as soon as he’s good and stable on his feet, because you’re so right that they are great for development and enjoyment! One major benefit that my husband and I found that I don’t remember you mentioning was PRIDE! My son was SO proud of himself for “riding his own bike” alongside his big sister. He got really fast with it and was able to keep up to her bike with training wheels pretty quickly on because he was so determined that he was “riding a bike” too. Pride in his ability was allllll over his face. And that sense of accomplishment was a beautiful thing.
That’s wonderful Marlaine, yes so true. Thank you for sharing and I’m so glad you enjoyed the article. I will be covering more benefits in the series of articles shortly, be sure to look out for PRIDE! Thanks again
Riding a balance bike for toddlers can be one of the best investments a parent could make.
The toddler may not realize the cognitive, muscle, cardio, and coordination skills are enjoying but it will be reflected in his future health and social and academic performances.
They visualize life from many directions and angles in multitudes of directions and decide better on many unrelated but important things.
I love this blog post because of the information it provides before offering selections of bikes.
It is remarkable to see the enlighted face of the little ones as they succeed step-by-step with you until they complete learning.
They make little friends and they play together after their school.
These social heart-to-heart-friendly relations can have the power to change and boost society in a better way.
It develops a special bond with
Balance bikes are so healthy for children for so many different reasons. I really enjoyed reading your thoughts on this. When you think about it, children not only learn physical skills but this also helps them develop a sense of confidence in what their bodies can do for them. It’s a first real taste of freedom and mobility. I remember watching my little nephew on his, and he was just so excited to ride along with his parents. Getting kids involved early in regular exercise is also extremely healthy and can start a life-long love of cycling. Thanks for another great post!
Hi Lee, thanks for your encouragement and comments. We are so glad you enjoyed the articles and have found them helpful. You are spot on. The benefits of riding a bike, and getting regular exercise is essential for all ages, and the benefits are endless! I hope you keep following and sharing our site as we have so much rich information and knowledge to share with you all about the wonderful world of balance bikes. Ride safe, ride happy!
Hi Dale. Your site is very informative, but would be inviting if you had photos of the various bikes. Also, on your about me page, it would be great if we could see a picture of you on your bike – that would be cool; and what would be even cooler if we could see you at the Ironman Triathlon event.
It is great that you have found your purpose and passion. Riding a bike can be fun and good exercise. My most memorable moment of riding a bike was when I was in Chicago on vacation. My sons and I rode our bikes on the Chicago Lakefront trail during the evening in the month of May; the weather was nice.
I would love to get on a bike again.
Thanks for sharing!
Hi Faye, thanks for reading my article and I am so pleased you are finding this information helpful. Yes, my site is virtually brand new. Over the coming weeks I will be adding some images, and yes one of my all time favorites is of me ‘jumping’ across the finish line in the Hawaii Ironmen in 2007! Watch out for this one on the site.
I will also be adding links for everyone to follow so that you can directly find the products you are interested in, and further helpful links for you. So please keep following and share our site. It will only get better! Thanks so much again for your encouragement and helpful ideas. Ride safe, have fun!
Hi
Thanks for sharing the post on balance bike for toddlers . I have learnt a lot from your post . Your post is very useful and informative. Balance bike have a lot of benefits , I will definitely buy for my nephew and nieces . Kindly recommend me which is the best online shop to buy balance bike ?
Thanks
Regards
Mrs SJ
Hi Mrs SJ, thank you for your encouraging words and comments. I’m just thrilled you enjoyed the article and found this helpful. My website is virtually brand new. Over the coming weeks I will be adding new links for everyone, and further helpful images and articles. Please keep following our site and share as we continue to grow and pursue our goal of helpful everyone experience the wonderful world of bikes!