I know every kid has their own interests, but I always thought that part of growing up is learning how to ride a bike. I can even remember my Granny teaching me out in the front yard. :-) Great memories there! My son however isn't too interested in learning. We bought him a big boy bike last Christmas, and he has yet to ride it. I ask him often if he'd like to go to the park and learn how, and he tells me 'no mama, not today'.
Should I push the issue of learning how? Or should I go by his lead? I'm afraid if I push him, he will certainly lose interest, but if I wait until he is excited about it, then he would learn better and love it.
Anyone else out there who's kiddo isn't interested in learning how to ride their bike?
SURPRISE SURPRISE!!! We took our kids to the park with the bike and my son was interested in learning. He took a few tries on it with us balancing him, and said "ok i'm ready to go play now". LOL At least he tried. He said he wanted to try again tomorrow! WHOOO HOOO!!! I'm glad too. I remember how fun it was to ride my bike. Back in the 70s when I was little, I road a 22 mile charity ride. I think I was around 8 or 9 years old. It was so much fun! I remember learning the rules of the road and the hand signals too. I can't wait to teach him those too. I just wish we lived in a neighborhood where he can learn here at home. We live on a busy residential street, so it isn't practical, or safe for us to teach him here. I'm just glad he had fun today trying! :-) YAY! Thanks to everyone for AWESOME answers!
Definitely follow his lead. If he's not into it, what's the point?
Does he have other friends who like to ride bikes? Go to a park and let them all ride around. That's how my son got interested in his. Before that, he couldn't have cared less.
My older kid was not interested until 10 years old...some kids like it and others do not; some kids are afraid more than we think and they feel ashamed to say to their parents, then the feeling goes away looking at their friends, neighbors or other siblings. Believe me.
I say you ride your bike, 3 times a week. Return happy.
He WILL want to go
My son wasn't that interested until age 7. Until then, we bought a trailer bike attachment so that he could go on bike rides with us. He got the experience of holding onto the handlebars and putting his feet on the pedals without the pressure of having to steer or balance. His friends spend just as much time riding scooters as bikes.
My son woke up a few weeks after his seventh birthday and told me that since he was seven he needed to ride his bike. I thought that day was never going to come. He rides it all the time now. Kids sometimes surprise us.....
I can't help but wonder if he's gotten hung up on what he thinks are your expectations of him, or that he might be afraid of disappointing you by not catching on right away. A great deal is being discovered about what motivates children, and the sorts of praise and encouragement that work, or that not only don't work, but cause a child to pull back and not even try. If you're interested in this possibility, read this article and see if any of it applies to your situation: How NOT to Talk to Kids, by Po Bronson: http://nymag.com/news/features/27840/
Mine's just four, but yeah-- absolutely zero interest in the trike he got when he was two. None. No interest in the balance bike my husband insisted on getting. (oh, why...oh, why???) I think they just develop interests according to what they are needing in the present.
Go with your instinct and wait until he's interested. For what it's worth, I didn't learn to ride a bike until I was ten, and I wasn't impacted by that.
Well this is not easy for me to admit but I did not learn til I was 12. No real mental or physical reason I can assure you. I just did not get the excitement for riding..my friends were not "always on their bikes"either.My mom thought/still thinks it is such a BIG deal when mention to doctors. I still don't see the hype. HTHIA =o)
Does it have training wheels? It sounds like he is probably afraid. Give it time. I imagine he'll come around. I know several kiddos who took a while to warm up to the idea. (Our neighbors daughter had no interest until last summer...she was 9).
If you are teaching him to ride a two wheeler I suggest taking the pedals off and let him push it with his feet. Every time he lifts his feet, he is technically riding a two wheeler. We did this with my son last summer for two weeks. When we put the pedals on, he was riding in 20 minutes by himself. I know several kids who have learned this way. I'd keep suggesting the bike riding to your son, but not push. Bike riding is supposed to be a fun experience. Take his lead, he'll come around. And if he doesn't, there are far worse things than not wanting to ride a bike. ;)
I wouldn't push the issue too much. When he is ready, he'll let you know. He may be afraid to try right now. Does it have training wheels? If not, try to put some on their. Also, show him that he has a helmet. Maybe that may encourage him, knowing that he'll be protected. Good luck.
My son barely rides his bike, he is 8. He will only ride it if I get on mine, and make a picnic and say "come on, lets go on a bike ride"
He hardly rode it until last year, I had to force him. And he was very late to ride without training wheels.
Get on your bike, that's the only thing I can say, if you have a little kiddo you can get a trailer for him/her. My 3 year old rides in one and loves it.
My son is 5 and has little interest in his bike as well. I encourage him to ride it each time we go out to play, but I don't push him to do it. I fear he will outgrow the bike before he ever rides it, but it has to be something he wants to learn. All the kids around us love to ride bikes, but my son prefers his scooter. I guess in time he will get there, but at his pace. We have a neighbor who is 8 yrs old and has no desire to learn to ride a bike. The mom keeps encouraging but the kid has no interest, you just have to let them lead.
Good Luck
I agree, he may be afraid of failure.
Allow him to let you know when he is ready to try.
Also let him know. most people really have to practice for a while, but that is ok. It is just part of the learning process.
Maybe suggest you all go and practice in an empty parking lot (away from prying neighborhood eyes) so he can have lots of room without obstacles.
Our daughter was the same way. She can be a perfectionist and likes to be able to "do it right the first time", but she is like me and very Klutzy and uncoordinated so she was not too excited about failing.
We also at that time did not have sidewalks only the street so that freaked her out.
We used to take her to the Cemetery to practice.. It was not till she was about 13 that she was able to ride, but was not very confident. Up at college, some of her friends have been working with her every once in a while , hee, hee, I can hear the squealing down here. I hope she learns by the time she graduates. Otherwise we are thinking we will have to purchase one of those old lady 3 wheelers!
Well, he obviously has other things he likes better. When my kids were little riding bikes was the thing to do in our neighborhood.
What does your son do that keeps him from wanting to ride bikes?
My son just turned 8 and he's "not into it" at all. Bikes, skateboards, scooters...we've ad them all but it's just not his bag, I guess.
We lived in apartments, and then our house has a gravel driveway and is on a busy street.
My kiddo learned last year at 7, but even now just isn't that interested in it. When I was a kid, a bike meant freedom. With my son, it means carting it into the car and driving to the park for an hour or so (or riding with mom on the trails). It's just not as fun for him, because the situation is different, I'm sure.
He DOES have several other wheeled toys he LOVES (plasmacar, razor, skateboard) that he rides all the time... they're more suited for our area. We also spend between 4-10 hours outside a day depending on the weather. Someday he might like his bike, but until then, it's just rather low on his priority list of 'fun' things to do.
My son is almost 11 and absolutely no interest! He liked to ride when he was younger with training wheels but then got a scooter and that is all there was. I should mention, my son is not athleticly inclined and struggles with the physical stuff. He tried to learn and realized how hard it was and then said he didn't want to learn and did not want his bike anymore. Now the bike sits in the garage and I think I'm going to sell it at the next garage sale. I can always go pick one up if he ever shows any interest. Most of his friends ride bikes, but he just goes on his scooter or walks to the park.
This makes me feel better. We got one for our six year old for her birthday, but she'd rather walk to the park behind her 3 year old brother, who's tooling along on his bike!
This is funny to me... I have a 16 year old daughter that we tried to get to learn to ride a bike. EVERY YEAR, for 12 years, we have bought her a bike for her birthday and every Christmas it goes to some kid on one of them Giving Trees LOL It has become a funny little tradition with her :-)
She can swim, ride a quad and loves her roller blades. She just never cared for riding a bike. BUT, I know she wishes she learned! Sooo... Please just take the bike and don't allow him to say no at all. Just take him and say let's go play!! Take him and teach him,now, before he regrets not learning and is in high school having to hide the fact he can't ride a bike and too embarrassed to ask to be taught by then.
My daughter was the exact same way, and i felt the same way you are feeling. I was really excited about her being able to enjoy the same exciting activity I did when I was a child. I was so frustrated that she wasn't interested!
I realized it was fear, not disinterest. She didn't want to fall!
So, I had one of her friends who knew how to ride come over. When she saw her friend riding around our cul-de-sac, I told her friend to teach my daughter how. Sure enough, my daughter picked up her bike, and just rode it! I didn't have to do a thing! Amazing. She now LOVES her bike.
Another thing I will share- you should start your son on a razor scooter or roller skates so that he can get used to the feeling of balancing himself. My daughter was so good on a razor scooter and she was learning how to roller skate, so balancing was something she was already used to. She learned how to ride in less than five minutes!
Okay so I have to add on to Samantha's comment. If she thinks it's hard to admit to not learning till 12, then I'll say that I never learned to ride a bike. I just didn't care about learning to ride one. So even to this day I can't ride one (I'm sure I could figure it out if I really wanted to). I get so much hell for it, but honestly, I don't see a point to learn now and my life was not worse off or my childhood deprived somehow. My parents did buy me one when I was a kid and tried to encourage me to ride it. I had nowhere to go on it though and could walk to all of my friends houses in the neighborhood. So ya, I just didn't care. I wouldn't push it honestly. His world won't be over if he doesn't use a bike.
Then don't make him ride a bike.
