When will my kid learn to use the pedals on his bike?

[Textcritic]

Hey.

I have three boys: Jaydon is eight, Nickolas is four, and Jacob is two. All three are adopted, and both Jaydon and Nick knew how to ride a bicycle with training wheels when they came to live with us.

Jacob will be three in a couple of months, and he still insists on pushing his tricycle around with his feet on the groud. So, I have no prior experience with toddlers, and I'm really curious to know: when can I expect that he will start using his pedals? Is this even something I can teach him to do?

[lambeburger]

Duct tape his shoes to the pedals, see if that helps his progress.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by lambeburger

Duct tape his shoes to the pedals, see if that helps his progress.

Are you speaking from experience? I can only see this tactic pushing my vociferously independent two-year-old into an uncontrollable rage.

[Stillman16]

My daughter just turned 3 about a month ago, and she had trouble pushing the pedals (not heavy enough/enough leg strength) but it is slowly coming (this is on a two wheeler with training wheels).

Now it's just taeching her to steer

[lambeburger]

No, mostly joking. Just throwing it out there though.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Stillman16

My daughter just turned 3 about a month ago, and she had trouble pushing the pedals (not heavy enough/enough leg strength) but it is slowly coming (this is on a two wheeler with training wheels).

Now it's just taeching her to steer

Steer?...What is "steer"?

Good to know. I'm hopeful that by the end of the summer we might actually be able to go for short family bike-rides.

[Stillman16]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Steer?...What is "steer"?

Good to know. I'm hopeful that by the end of the summer we might actually be able to go for short family bike-rides.

Steer- To guide, turn....... (I looked it up, and it's speeled correctly)

She only want to look at the pedals right now and ends up crashing everywhere!

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Stillman16

Steer- To guide, turn....... (I looked it up, and it's speeled correctly)...

Sorry about that. It was an unsuccessful attempt of mine to be cheeky, but it was a legitimate question. My four-year-old appears to have little idea of what "steer" means, so I wasn't sure if it had fallen out of fashion with the kids.

[Temporary_User]

No experience with this, but I assume both of your other boys are still using training wheels? or atleast one of them is?
Even if they're not I guess...
Stand there with your youngest and watch them ride their bikes. IMO your youngest will watch and want to feel apart of the group and will pick it up.

In sum: Kids are very visual, and will do anything to fit in with their peers.

Make it a group activity, have your other two help teach the youngest if you want...

[MacDougalbry]

Just recently I've tried to get my 3 year old to start peddling his plastic trike. But pushing with his feet is faster and easier and he has a strong desire to keep up with his 5 year old sister so the pedals are a hard sell. I think the teaching needs to be done without the sister around and I am also thinking of ditching the plastic trike in favour of something that isn't so easily pushed.

[burn_this_city]

Get em a big wheel..

[Flashpoint]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

Get em a big wheel..

Yup. Big Wheel is where it's at.

[Barnes]

RIP Masters of the Universe big wheel. We had some good battles against Frankie's Knight Rider big wheel and Boner's A-Team big wheel. Those were the days.

At some point pushing along with feet will no longer be easier than using the pedals. Your kid will get it eventually. Maybe hop on a bike yourself and let him chase you around on the trike. When he can't catch up, he may give the pedals a try.

You could also have him put his feet on the pedals and push him around. It will build muscle memory. I've taught kids as young as three to ski. Once they get a feel for something, they'll remember. It's just a matter of figuring out how to get them to experience what they're supposed to do.

[Azure]

I don't know how to help, but props for adopting 3 children Text.

[sadora]

As with anything else, the more you two practice the faster he will get it. Just keep at it and he'll get it soon enough.

[Draug]

Originally Posted by Barnes

I've taught kids as young as three to ski. Once they get a feel for something, they'll remember. It's just a matter of figuring out how to get them to experience what they're supposed to do.

Any tips for that? We are thinking of trying skiing next year with (our then) three year old.

I was thinking that pushing her along on the basically flat kiddie 'hill' would do the trick. Any other ideas?

I'll keep reading this thread ... I was hoping to get her using pedals on a tricycle this summer, but she'll be only 2 1/2.

[Barnes]

Originally Posted by Draug

Any tips for that? We are thinking of trying skiing next year with (our then) three year old.

I was thinking that pushing her along on the basically flat kiddie 'hill' would do the trick. Any other ideas?

I'll keep reading this thread ... I was hoping to get her using pedals on a tricycle this summer, but she'll be only 2 1/2.

Not all kids are strong enough to ski at that age but they all have fun doing it. What I used to do is get in front of them with my back facing downhill and hold their tips of their skis with one hand. Put them in a snowplow and tell them they are making a big slice of pizza shape with their skis. Most kids will not be able to hold the snowplow right away and their ankles will roll over and they'll fall.

To get them to keep pressure on their inside edges while in a snowplow, I used to tell kids that there are ski buttons in their boots and they need to press down hard on them with their big toes. This gets their weight forward in their boots and puts pressure on the inside edge. While skiing backwards holding their tips, you just have to correct the wandering ski by grabbing the boot with your freehand and tell them to press the ski buttons and make a pizza slice.