11 Quick and Easy Steps to Riding a Bike:

Before any of the steps, I want to say this. Riding a bike is fun. So learning to ride a bike should be fun also. Over years of training, the one thing I have noticed that helped kids improve the most is positive encouragement. Be happy for your kid as soon as they finish a drill. Keep encouraging them. Your child should want to learn to ride a bike, not be forced to ride one. If they are getting frustrated, take a break. Your relationship with your child as you teach them to ride a bike is the biggest part. 

Steps to riding a bike:

1. Find a bike that fits.

Your child should be able to place their feet comfortably on the ground. Smaller is always better. Do not get a bike that is too big for your child.

2. Take the pedals and training wheels off.

Flip the bike on its back with its seat and handle bars touching the ground. Find an adjustable wrench to take the pedals and training wheels off. Turn the pedals towards the back tire to loosen them.

3. Start with a very basic cone drill.

Set up cones, two by two, in a line and make your child walk in between the cones. Make them big enough so that your child can easily go though them without getting disappointed or discouraged. 

4. Introduce “small steps.”

He/she should be walking normally on their bike while going in between cones. We call these “small steps”. They should not be any bigger than a walking pace. Make sure they are staying seated and looking forward and not at their feet.

5.  Introduce “big steps.” 

After your child gets the hang of “small steps”, they should now try “big steps.” Do the same cone drill as before, except now use bigger steps. These should be significantly larger than normal walking pace steps.

6. Introduce “bunny hops.” 

These look just as they sound, two feet pushing parallel with each other. Teach them to lean forward, place their feet as far in front of their bike as they can, and then push.

(Do not forget to make sure that your child is keeping good form throughout these drills. Make sure they are still seated on their seat and looking in front of them.)

7. Increase the difficulty of the cone drill. 

Now try making the cone drill harder. Still keep the two-by-two form just stager the cones so that they will have to turn in order to go in between the cones. Make sure your child can do all three steps (small steps, big steps, and bunny hops) with ease before moving on. 

8. Circle drill.

Set up a big circle using cones. Get them to go around the circle both ways. They need to be leaning in the direction they are turning. Our motto is “Look, Lean, and Turn.” Make them look in front of them to see where they are going, lean in the direction they are turning, and then finally turning their handle bar. The biggest part of turning is leaning (not turning the handle bars), so really emphasize they lean into the turn. 

9. Picking up their feet.

After they have turning down fairly well, move back over to the two-by-two cone drill. Start by making them take 5 steps as fast as they can, then, at your command, tell them to pick up their feet. Try to see how far they can go without putting their feet down. Make up a game or reward them for making it to a certain spot. It should be fun for them to practice and get better. A gradual slope helps significantly on this drill. 

(This step is crucial for learning to ride a bike. As soon as they can go 30 feet without putting their feet down, they are ready to ride. Don’t be afraid to revisit previous steps to make sure they can do each drill with ease and have tons of practice.)

10. Put the pedals on. 

And throw the training wheels away. You will not need them anymore. Turn the pedals towards the front tire to tighten. 

11. Learn to ride

Let your child walk the bike around with their feet just like before. It is going to feel different with pedals on now. After pushing around for a while, start out by making your child take 5 steps as fast as they can. Run alongside them as they coast (with their feet not on the pedals yet) and offer support but do not help them balance. After you go a while, tell them to put their feet on the pedals and start pedaling. As soon as you see they are pedaling, let go, and watch your child as they ride with a big smile on their face. 

Used Successfully with
Special Needs Children and Adults