Teach Your Kids to Ride a Bike

Start out with your kid's bike, without training wheels. Make sure the seat is low enough that he/she can put their feet flat on the ground without a problem.

Then find a nice and soft, grassy field with a slight downhill. Start out at the top.

Hold the bike while your kid sits on it, with feet out for balance.

Let the bike go so your kid can coast down the hill. They can start with their feet out, making it easy to put them down so they don't fall over. (Be sure to tell them to do this when they lose balance!)

Do a few runs until your child can easily coast down the hill with feet out. Afterwards, try coasting down with feet on the pedals. (Remember, the seat is still low enough that they can put their feet on the ground easily to stop.)

Now it's time to pedal. Once your kid can coast down the hill with feet on pedals, then have them actually pedal down the hill.

Finally, you can raise the seat to a proper riding position (knees slightly bent at the bottom of the pedal stroke.) Have your child pedal down like this.

Once the slope is mastered, take them to flat ground. If necessary, lower the seat when you first try this, then raise it again so your child can pedal around the block. (Although you might want to stick with a soft grassy field!)

Now, if you could just keep them riding past age 16!

- Stay loose. The "white knuckle" grip won't help with balance and steering.

- Look ahead. Look where you want to go, which is usually straight ahead, not down at the ground.

- Embrace the wobbles. Correcting wobbles is the key to good balance. (Remember, walking is nothing more than controlled falling. It's similar when balancing a bicycle.)

- Steer with your body. You can go where you want by leaning your body. Sharp turns on the handle bars can lead to disaster.