So when my kid was a bit over a year old, it became clear that there was an unprecedented sportsman in the making!

I immediately went out and bought a balance bike similar to this one:

Anyway, turns out that no amount of tape, even construction style one, was enough to keep the little one on the bike in an upright position at a reasonable speed. After a couple of bumps, I decided that the reasonable thing is to wait a little.

After what felt like eternity, but probably wasn’t too long, he started to use it more and more. Jumps were made over garden hoses. Little hills were mastered, gaining more and more speed.

At about two / three years of age, my kid was pushing his balance bike with verve downhill on skate tracks!

He absolutely learnt to love it super quick and he still uses it now and then while learning how to use a peddle bike. The balancing side of the peddle bike worked pretty much from the start as a result of the balance bike. The peddle bike is a fair bit bigger however and he needs to build up some confidence with it though.

Anyway, I can wholeheartedly recommend a proper balance bike for toddlers. They are great fun and give them a great sense of freedom.

Things to look out for:

• Ensure it is light weight… you will carry it for extended times
• Get a proper two wheel one. The three wheel ones don’t give them a chance to learn the balancing mechanics.
• Make sure they wear a helmet
• Great way for a parent to maintain some form of exercise, while you are chasing after the kid
• Once they learn how to balance, put trust in them regarding how fast they are going… they can go pretty fast for sure! I’ve seen this not only with mine, but also others. Obviously look for a save environment where nothing serious happens if they loose control