Balance Bike and Ride-On Toys

Safety

The AAP recommends a helmet on every ride starting with the first tricycle or balance bike; use one certified to the US CPSC standard.
Helmets come off as soon as the child gets off the bike, because a helmet caught in climbing equipment can strangle a child.
Ride only in an enclosed area away from streets, driveways, steps, and water.
Riders and walkers use separate areas or a one-way path so riders do not hit younger children.

1
Fit the helmet: level on the head, straps snug under the chin with room for one finger.
2
Show the ride-on toy. Sit on it with both feet on the ground and walk it forward slowly, holding the handles.
3
Hold the toy still while the child sits on it.
4
Let the child walk it forward. Feet pushing the ground to move is the point of interest.
5
Show stopping: put both feet down flat.
6
When the child is steady on the four-wheeled toy, offer the balance bike: walk it while sitting, then push with both feet together and lift them for a moment.
7
Take the helmet off when the child gets off the bike.

The toy: it tips or stops if the child leans too far or turns too sharply; the feet on the ground stop it.

Many balance bikes list 18–24 months as the youngest age; fit matters more than age. The child must reach the ground with both feet flat.

Four-wheeled ride-on toy with no pedals and a seat low enough that the child sits with both feet flat on the ground
Balance bike in the smallest size, seat set so the child sits with both feet flat on the ground and knees slightly bent
Bicycle helmet certified to the US CPSC standard, fitted to the child
A flat, enclosed path away from traffic, driveways, steps, and water

ridepushsteerstophelmet

Nothing — this can be a first presentation.

End of this line in the birth to 3 program.

The Head Start infant and toddler outcomes this work meets show here for school accounts.