You might not think that teaching your kid to ride a scooter would be all that emotional but you’d be surprised. It can sometimes feel simple for adults, but trying to balance yourself, move forward and fear falling hurts all at once for kids.
Whether your child is naturally more anxious, or they are younger, it’s understandable for them to feel nervous about learning how to ride a scooter.
Learning to scooter without fear is possible though!
This guide will provide you with everything you need to know about helping your child learn to ride a scooter confidently without building up fear or pressure.
Why Do Kids Get Fearful When Learning How to Ride a Scooter?
Fear is typically caused by the unknown rather than something that is actually scary. Kids are often scared of falling because they haven’t experienced how easy it is.
Or if they have fallen once, they may remember how it felt to fall rather than what, if any, injury they may have received.
Children who are naturally more timid will likely take their time when learning to ride a scooter. They will want to watch others, try things slow, and go at their own pace.
When you push children who tend to be on the scared side, it can actually cause more fear.
How To Get Your Child Over Their Fear Of Riding A Scooter
Find The Right Scooter For Your Child
When your child’s scooter is too big for them, it can cause immediate fear. If the deck is too high or the handlebars too tall for them to reach, they may feel off-balance even before they start pushing on the scooter.
A great scooter for younger children to learn on is a 3 wheel scooter with 2 wheels at the front. The stability of these scooters makes learning how to balance a lot easier for kids. Toddlers and Preschoolers will love learning how to ride on these as they make staying upright much easier!
As kids get older and are able to keep their balance on a 2 wheel scooter, opt for something lightweight with a low deck so their feet can touch the ground easily.
Adjust the handlebars so they reach your child’s hips/ waist. You want them to feel secure on the scooter, not stretched out or off-balanced.
Utilise Their Safety Gear
As parents, we always want to make sure our kids are safe when riding their scooter. Helmets, knee pads and elbow pads are a must!
However, when teaching your child how to ride a scooter, you don’t want to use their safety gear as a scare tactic.
Instead of telling them that the knee pads are there so they won’t get badly hurt if they fall, tell them that the knee pads are there so they can be brave and try new things.
If possible, allow your child to pick out the color of their helmet or design of their knee pads. Kids feel more confident when they can pick their own gear and feel like it’s theirs.
Not only will they want to wear the gear because it’s “theirs”, but they will also know that they can fall and be okay!
Pick The Right Environment
Last thing you want is your child learning how to ride a scooter on a busy sidewalk or an area where there are cars passing by. Parents assume that teaching their child on an incline will help them learn how to brake, however, it often leads to children becoming fearful since they have to go downhill.
Pick an open area that is flat. Empty carparks, quiet playgrounds, tennis courts or even smooth pavements are great places to practice on. Make sure there aren’t too many people around that your child will have to avoid.
You should also try and practice during times where there aren’t other children nearby. The last thing we want is our kids feeling like they have to perform or race to their destination.
Teach Your Child How To Balance First
Many parents try to teach their child how to push too soon and as a result, their little ones lose their balance and try to avoid falling.
Instead of having your child move forward on the scooter, have them simply stand on the deck with both feet. Hold onto the handlebars so the scooter doesn’t move.
Encourage them to feel the scooter beneath their feet. Once they are comfortable with that, have them place one foot on the ground and walk while standing on the scooter deck. It will feel like they are gliding.
This teaches your child that if they need to, they can stop at any time by simply putting their foot on the ground. They will gain confidence knowing they have an emergency brake.
Once they feel comfortable gliding, have them try pushing once with their free leg.
Take It Step By Step
Kids will become overwhelmed if there is too much to learn at once. Break it down for them.
- Standing on the scooter
- Walking while standing on the scooter deck
- Push once with one leg and take a short glide
- Take multiple pushes all in a row
- Learn how to take a slight turn
Remember to praise your child when they complete a step. Don’t rush them or compare their progress with that of your other children or another kid. Some children may learn how to glide after one session with you, while others may take days or even weeks. Both timelines are completely fine.
Let Kids Know You’re Close By Without Hovering
Having your little one know that you are close by will help ease any tension they may be feeling. Stand close enough that if they need you you can reach them, but don’t hover over them.
Hovering will make kids feel like you are trying to control the scooter and they will become fearful. Instead, simply offer them words of encouragement. “You got this”, “just a little more”, are way more effective than standing over them with your hands on the scooter.
Once you feel that your child has gained enough confidence (and you’ve slowly backed away from them), they will start to feel prouder and less fearful when you let them do it on their own.
Allow Your Child To Fall
Falling is inevitable, that’s why we buy our kids safety gear. We don’t want them to get injured when they fall.
However, that doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t fall. If they fall, stay calm. Kids feed off of energy. Don’t run over to them screaming and worrying.
Ask them if they are okay or if they want to try again. Letting your child know that falling isn’t a big deal will help reduce their fears.
Allowing them to fall and get back up will help them learn how to ride a scooter quicker.
Have Fun With It
Learning how to ride a scooter doesn’t have to be serious. Make it into a game.
Challenge your child to ride their scooter up to a tree, glide until they reach a cone or have them follow a line you draw in chalk.
You can even pretend that they are a delivery rider going to different places or they are on an adventure traveling down the road. Little distractions like these will help kids forget about the fear they may be feeling.
Don’t go out for hours on end though. Practice in short periods of time and always try to end the session while they still have confidence. If they fall and you continue riding with them, they may begin to feel discouraged.
Leave it For Another Day
Similar to having fun with riding the scooter, some days your child will want to ride their scooter more than others. There will be days where they aren’t having it and just want to watch others ride their scooters.
If your child doesn’t want to ride, don’t force them to. Take a break and try again another day. The fear will go away once you stop pushing them.
Remember, learning how to ride a scooter takes time.
Praise The Little Things
Instead of praising how fast your child can ride their scooter, praise them for trying new things even though they were scared.
“A mommy high five for riding your scooter even though you were scared!”
“I’m proud of you for trying!” These types of phrases will allow your child to gain confidence.
Praise the effort they are putting into learning how to ride the scooter, not how fast they can go or if they can beat their sibling’s time.
When Can You Move On To More Advanced Riding?
Once your child feels comfortable pushing, gliding, turning and stopping you can slowly introduce them to riding your scooter on a slight incline or downhill. You can even take them to parks with more children.
If you notice that your child starts to become fearful again, take a step back. Build their confidence back up by having them do the steps we talked about above.
Keep Learning Fun & Your Kid Will Lose Their Fear!
At the end of the day, teaching your child how to ride a scooter with no fear is all about trust. As long as your child feels safe, knows you are there for them, and has a scooter that fits them, they will gain confidence and ride that scooter fearlessly.
Have you helped your child overcome their fear of riding a scooter? Let us know down below as I would love to hear about your experiences and tips. It helps other parents know that they aren’t the only ones going through it too!
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