Regular biking has a host of benefits to offer, from providing a good source of exercise to allowing you to connect with the great outdoors to helping balance your hormones and keep stress in check. When you’re trying to teach your kids how to ride a bike or are attempting to convince them to join you on a bike ride, however, it can sometimes feel akin to pulling teeth. You may feel like you’ve tried everything to entice your kids into going biking more, from getting them a colorful cruiser bike basket to providing a fat tire cruiser and plenty of loving advice. The key to getting kids excited about biking, though, is showing them just how much fun the outdoorsy activity really can be. Here are a handful of helpful ways you can do just that.
Make Sure Your Kids Have Comfortable, Exciting Bikes
Part of the allure of biking has to do with its air of adventure. If your kids see a bike as something either boring or uncomfortable, however, they might lose incentive to give it a fair shot. There are two easy steps you can take to address this issue. First off, look for comfort bicycles with adequate padding in the seat and training wheels, if necessary, to make sure your kids feel comfy when they’re on the bike. Second of all, consider getting them stickers or other items they can add to the bike that can personalize it and make it feel more like something they’d like to show off. Superhero stickers or tags with their favorite TV characters could be interesting places to start.
Let Them Suggest Biking Route Locations
If you’re always the one choosing the biking route, you could be missing out on the places your children really want to visit. While you’ll still have to vet their suggestions for safety, kids have different tastes and could be more excited about going someplace they’re interested in. For instance, some places to start could be:
- The park or your neighborhood street, for beginners
- The downtown area (with a stop by the ice cream shop as a treat!)
- A local hiking trail, for moderate-to-advanced riders
Bring the Whole Family Along and Play a Few Games on the Way
You can spruce up bike time by bringing the whole family and coming up with unique games to play along the way. For example, you could have friendly races in an empty parking lot, in a safe way, and enjoy each other’s company at the same time.
Even if your children are normally fairly outdoorsy, the idea of riding a bike isn’t always instantly appealing to all kids. In fact, for some kids, the idea of biking might sound tedious or even boring compared to other activities they may be more used to, like turning on the TV or getting lost in a round of video games with friends. In order to convince your kids to go on bike rides, however, it could be that all you need to do is demonstrate just how fun and exciting the activity can be. The next time your kids are being stubborn about biking, give these creative strategies a try to help demonstrate the beauty of this underrated sport.
